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PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


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PRESENTED  BY 

The  Estate  of  the 
Rev,  John  E,  Wiedin^-er 


BV  4316  .S7  T7  l 

Trumbull,  H.  Clay  1830-1903 

Shoes  and  rations  for  a  lo 

march 


1 


SHOES  AND  RATIONS 
FOR  A  LONG  MARCH 


SHOES  AND  RATI 


FOR  A  LONG  MARCH 


OR 


NEEDS     AND     SUPPLIES 
IN     EVERY-DAY     LIFE 


BEING  SERMON  -  GROWTHS  FROM  AN 
ARMY  CHAPLAIN'S  TALKS  IN  CAMP 
AND   FIELD  AND    PRISON  AND  AT    HOME 


/. 


By   H.    CLAY  TRUMBULL 

Former  Regimental  Chaplain  United  States  Volun- 
teers ;  Avithor  of  "The  Knightly  Soldier,"  "War 
Memories  of  an  Army  Chaplain,"  "Studies  in  Oriental 
Social  Life,"  "The  Blood  Covenant,"  etc. 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1903 


Copyright,  1903, 

BY 

H.  Clay  Trumbull. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

How  These  Sermons  Came  to  Be  Preached    ...       i 

I 
A  Shoe  Sermon 7 

II 
A  Sermon  on  Thirst 27 

III 
Gain  of  Godliness 5^ 

IV 
Universal  Longing  for  Jesus Th 

V 
A  Seed  Sermon 93 

VI 
Character  Surely  Disclosed n? 

VII 
My  Chaplaincy  Among  Students 143 

VIII 
Importance  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier 185 

V 


vi  Contents 

IX  PAGE 

Danger  of  Counting  Conscience  a  Safe  Guide.     .   215 

X 

Duty  of  Making  the  Past  a  Success 239 

XI 
Trusting  Better  Than  Worrying 257 

XII 
Peril  and  Power  Through  Temptation  ....       281 

XIII 
Victorious  in  Death  and  in  Life 301 

XIV 
Rejoicing  in  Peace 3-7 


HOW  THESE  SERMONS  CAME 
TO  BE  PREACHED 

As  I  was  never  called  to  have  the  help  or  the 
hindrances  of  training  in  a  divinity  school  or  a  theo- 
logical seminary,  no  sermons  of  mine  will  show  the 
characteristics  of  one  who  was  thus  trained.  I  was 
ordained  as  a  clergyman  when  called,  while  a  layman, 
to  be  a  regimental  chaplain  in  the  Civil  War.  My 
work  of  preaching  was  the  work  of  addressing  my 
fellow-men  on  subjects  in  which  they  and  I  had  an 
interest  in  common.  I  had  never  taken  any  lessons 
on  the  best  way  of  preparing  a  sermon,  or  of  preach- 
ing one.  Whatever  of  practical  experience  I  had  had 
that  might  be  of  service  to  me  in  such  preparation, 
had  been  obtained  in  political  speaking  "on  the  stump," 
and  in  talks  in  Sunday-school  conventions  and  at 
neighborhood  religious  gatherings. 

My  chief  service  and  training  in  political  speaking 
had,  indeed,  been  in  the  early  days  of  the  Republican 
party,  when  the  issue  was  simple,  and  when  personal 
feeling  on  both  sides  was  intense.  The  main  question 
at  that  time  was,  Shall  slavery  be  permitted  to  extend 
into  territory  now  free,  or  must  it  be  resisted  at  any 
and  every  cost  ?  I  learned  then  to  strive  to  make  my 
every  appeal    and  argument   and  word  tell   on   that 

I 


Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


single  point,  every  time  I  spoke.  This  was  the  main 
thought  in  my  homiletics  of  then.  I  did  not,  in  those 
days,  try  to  make  a  finished  discourse.  I  did  try  to 
show  electors  how  they  ought  to  vote. 

In  consequence  of  this  preHminary  training,  or  this 
lack  of  such  training,  my  sermons  were  naturally  un- 
conventional, and  not  conformed  to  the  standards  pre- 
vailing in  training-schools  for  clergymen.  This  is 
true  of  those  sermons  written  and  preached  after,  as 
durine,  the  war.  I  never  did,  nor  could  I  ever,  preach 
a  sermon  except  as  a  truth  or  a  message  possessed 
me  which  I  desired  to  have  possess  those  before 
whom  I  stood.  In  many  cases  a  sermon  preached 
under  peculiar  circumstances  in  army-life  was  re- 
shaped and  preached  repeatedly  in  home  life  in  later 
years.  But  the  spirit  and  method  were  much  the  same 
in  both  places  and  cases,  even  though  the  phrasing 
and  the  chosen  illustrations  might  be  different  be- 
cause of  the  different  hearers  and  circumstances. 

Had  my  sermons  been  a  formal  treatment  of  a  sub- 
ject, or  of  a  truth,  I  might  have  shared  the  feeling  of 
a  well-known  clergyman  who  said  he  would  "as  soon 
take  an  emetic  as  preach  an  old  sermon."  But  as  I 
never  preached  unless  a  message  possessed  me  as  so 
important  that  I  wanted  to  repeat  it  and  re-repeat  it, 
so  lone  as  there  was  need  of  its  being  heard,  my  in- 
terest  in  a  special  message  grew  as  the  truth  grew  on 
me.  If  I  saw  a  neighbor's  house  on  fire  in  the  night, 
I  should  want  to  cry  "Fire,  Fire,"  and  I  should 
want  to  repeat  that  cry  so  long  as  the  danger  existed 


How  these  Scmions  Came  to  be  Pi^eached     3 

and  helpers  were  not  yet  aroused.  My  danger-calls 
from  the  pulpit  were  comparatively  few,  but  a  sense 
of  the  importance  of  each  one  of  them  grew  on  me 
steadily.  This  will  account  for  the  characteristics 
of  these  sermons,  as  from  the  standpoint  of  the  army 
chaplain,  and  even  those  sermons  which  were  preached 
in  the  home  camp. 

Three  of  my  sermons,  as  preached  to  my  regiment 
on  special  occasions,  were,  at  the  request  of  the  officers 
and  men,  published  during  the  war.  These  and  other 
army  sermons  are  described  in  the  chapter  entitled 
"  A  Chaplain's  Sermons,"  in  my  volume,  "  War  Mem- 
ories of  an  Army  Chaplain  "  (published  by  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons,  New  York). 

My  preaching  as  an  army  chaplain  inevitably  shaped 
and  influenced  all  my  sermons  preached  since  that 
day.  Wherever  I  was  as  a  preacher,  my  training  and 
my  chaplain  experiences  caused  me  always  to  con- 
sider myself  as  an  army  chaplain  talking  to  soldiers 
of  their  personal  duties  and  needs. 

Because  some  valued  friends,  both  lay  and  clerical, 
have  repeatedly  urged  me  to  publish  a  selection  from 
these  sermons,  as  illustrative  of  the  spirit  and  method 
of  such  work,  I  have  now  decided  to  do  so.  And  in 
accordance  with  the  sufjorestion  of  the  same  friends, 
I  have  prefaced  some  of  the  sermons  with  a  statement 
of  the  circumstances  under  which  they  were  originally 
written,  together  with  facts  as  to  their  later  use. 

As  here  given,  these  sermons  are  fuller  and  more 
extended  than  as  preached  at  any  one  time.     lUustra- 


4       Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

tions,  paragraphs,  or  sections  were  omitted  in  their 
preaching,  so  as  to  bring  them  within  proper  Hmits. 
But  the  discourses  are  now  given  in  their  entirety, 
so  as  to  show  the  richer  possibihties  of  the  subjects 
treated. 

H.  CLAY  TRUMBULL. 


Philadelphia,  October  2j,  igoj, 


A  SHOE  SERMON 


A  SHOE  SERMON 

On  one  of  our  Union  army  marches  along  the 
roads  of  North  Carolina,  in  1862,  I  was  made  to 
realize  as  never  before  the  importance  of  easy  and 
durable  shoes  as  a  means  of  giving  soldiers  comfort 
and  efficiency.  Some  of  the  new  regiments  at  that 
time  were  provided,  at  private  expense,  with  costly 
and  attractive-appearing  calf-skin  shoes,  that  fitted 
closely  the  feet  of  the  soldiers.  These  looked  well 
on  the  city  streets  or  in  the  camp.  They  seemed  to 
be  very  fine,  for  a  time,  in  contrast  with  the  rough  and 
coarse  army  shoes  of  the  veteran  soldier.  But  when 
worn  on  a  long  march,  over  roads  of  clay  or  sand, 
they  made  the  swelling  feet  of  the  wearer  sore,  while 
the  coarser-looking  army  shoe  proved  far  better  fitted 
for  the  every-day  duties  of  a  soldier.  The  true  test 
proved  to  be,  not  looks,  but  service. 

As  the  days  passed  on,  on  the  march,  the  costly  and 
fine-looking  shoes  were  actually  taken  off  and  thrown 
aside  on  the  road,  while  their  weary  wearers  had  to 
trudge  along  in  their  stocking  feet,  hoping  to  be  able 
to  get  back  to  camp  by  and  by,  and  secure  some  of 
the   before-despised   but  wisely-planned  army  shoes. 

7 


8       Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

And  I  learned  a  new  lesson  from  this,  of  the  soldier's 
dependence  on  his  foot-covering  in  the  path  of  duty. 

Out  of  that  lesson  grew  this  sermon.  It  was 
preached  in  the  army,  and  again  later  elsewhere.  It 
was  re-written  and  freshly  arranged,  with  other  illus- 
trations, as  adapted  to  other  communities.  As  based 
on  the  text  chosen,  I  originally  called  the  sermon 
"Man's  Strength  Proportioned  to  Duty."  I  preached 
it  in  various  pulpits  from  Massachusetts  to  California, 
as  my  life  was  then  a  peripatetic  one,  and  as  the  les- 
son of  this  sermon  seemed  adapted  to  any  community. 

At  one  time,  being  invited  to  pass  a  Sunday  in  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  I  was,  in  advance,  requested  by  the 
pastor  to  preach  this  sermon,  of  which  he  had  heard. 
Reaching  Salem  on  Saturday  evening,  I  found  it  an- 
nounced in  one  of  the  papers  that  the  next  day 
"  Chaplain  Trumbull  of  Hartford  "  was  to  preach  in 
town,  and  by  special  request  he  was  to  give  his 
"  famous  Shoe  Sermon."  Then,  and  thus  at  other 
times,  I  learned  that  the  sermon  was  known  as  "Chap- 
lain Trumbull's  Shoe  Sermon."  But  the  subject  of 
the  sermon  seems  to  me  to  be  worth  considering,  by 
whatever  name  it  is  known. 


STRENGTH  PROPORTIONED  TO   DUTY 

TJiy  shoes  shall  be  iron  atid  brass  ;  and  as  thy  days^ 
so  shall  thy  strength  be  (Deut.  33  :  25). 

Have  you  ever  realized  how  much  of  one's  com- 
fort, and  one's  efficiency  for  service,  depends  on  one's 
shoes  ?  Peculiarly  is  it  true  that  if  a  man  would 
travel,  or  would  do  work  in  the  world,  he  must  have 
a  foot-covering  that  is  easy  and  durable. 

An  officer  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  after 
examining  the  collection  of  foot-gear  from  all  parts 
of  the  world  in  the  National  Museum  at  Washington, 
said,  on  this  subject :  "  It  is  a  curious  fact  which  seems 
to  have  been  overlooked,  that  while  other  parts  of  the 
human  costume  have  been  more  intimately  associated 
with  the  enjoyment  of  life,  and  [with]  decoration,  than 
with  mere  bodily  comfort,  the  shoe  has  had  a  more 
serious  history.  It  is  really  an  instrument  of  travel 
and  transportation.  All  the  savage  and  barbarous 
peoples  of  the  earth  that  stay  at  home  are  barefooted  ; 
and  it  is  only  when  they  go  away  from  home,  and 
carry  burdens  upon  a  common  path,  that  they  begin 
to  look  after  the  interest  of  that  important  organ 
called  the  foot." 

A  Chinese  wife  who  is  not  expected  to  leave  home, 

9 


lo     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


and  who  need  network  while  there,  requires  no  stout 
or  soft  shoe  to  take  her  ease  in.  But  the  sturdy 
peasant  woman  of  Holland  or  Belgium,  who  does 
more  than  her  share  of  toil  and  travel,  must  have  her 
wooden  sabot  to  enable  her  to  keep  up  with  or  to  go 
ahead  of  her  brother  or  husband.  The  athletic  young 
woman  of  England  and  America  could  not  be  at  the 
front  to-day,  as  she  is,  without  the  well-laced  bicycle 
gaiters,  the  strong  golf-boots,  and  the  stout  walking- 
shoes,  such  as  are  advertised  on  every  side. 

It  is  said  that  he  who  should  invent  a  shoe  that 
would  neither  soon  wear  out  nor  make  the  foot  of  the 
walker  sore  would  do  more  for  the  science  of  war 
than  he  who  invented  or  improved  the  most  power- 
ful enginery  of  destruction.  And  this  was  the 
thought  of  Napoleon  when  he  said  that  ten  thou- 
sand men  moved  twenty  miles  a  day  are  more  than 
a  match  for  twenty  thousand  men  moved  ten  miles 
a  day. 

The  shoes  soldiers  wear  have  as  much  to  do  with 
their  efficiency  as  the  weapons  they  carry,  according 
to  this  standard  of  judgment.  Men  who  made  long 
and  forced  marches  through  the  yielding,  clinging 
clay  of  the  roads  of  the  South  in  springtime  or 
autumn,  during  our  Civil  War,  in  the  parching  dust 
of  the  same  region  in  mid-summer,  and  over  rough, 
hard-frozen  ground  in  the  dead  of  winter,  can  ap- 
preciate this  truth  as  others  are  not  likely  to. 

The  promise  of  our  text,  as  we  are  told,  is  part  of 
"the   blessing,  wherewith    Moses   the    man   of  God 


A  Shoe  Sermon  1 1 

blessed  the  children  of  Israel  before  his  death  "  (Deut 
33:1).  That  promise  had  meaning  as  first  given  to  a 
people  who  had,  for  a  full  generation,  wandered  in  the 
wilderness,  and  to  whom  their  leader  could  say,  at  the 
close,  ''  Thy  raiment  [foot-gear  included]  waxed  not 
old  upon  thee,  neither  did  thy  foot  swell,  these  forty 
years."  (Deut.  8:4). 

Experiences  of  the  past  are  made  a  basis  of  en- 
couragement for  the  future.  As  things  have  been,  by 
God's  blessing,  so  things  shall  be  to  him  whom  God 
leads:  "Thy  shoes  shall  be  iron  and  brass;  and  as 
thy  days,. so  shall  thy  strength  be." 

It  is  durability,  rather  than  softness,  that  is  needed 
in  the  sandal  worn  by  the  Arab  of  the  desert  of  Sinai, 
as  he  tracks  the  flint-covered  chalk  plains  where  the 
Israelites  wandered  in  all  those  years.  The  sandal 
used  there  still  is  the  toughest  rawhide  obtainable, 
the  best  material  at  hand,  most  like  *'  iron  and  brass," 
to  resist  the  cutting  force  of  the  flint  knives  which 
must  be  trodden  over  hour  after  hour  of  every  weary 
day.  In  the  margin  of  our  English  Bibles,  it  is  given 
as  an  alternative  reading  of  our  text,  "  Under  thy  soles 
shall  be  iron  and  brass."  Shoes  that  waxed  not  old 
in  forty  years,  while  the  feet  above  them  swelled  not, 
were  a  God-given  blessing  that  the  plainest  man  could 
appreciate. 

And  all  that  that  promise  meant  to  the  Israelites  of 
old,  it  means  to  every  one  of  God's  children  to-day. 
As  little  Samuel's  mother  sang  of  Him  in  whom  she 
trusted,  we  can  sing  in  faith  of  Him  who  "  is  the  same 


1 2     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


yesterday,  and  to  day,  and  for  ever "  (Heb.  13  :  8). 
"  He  will  keep  the  feet  of  his  saints  [his  holy  ones]  " 
(i  Sam.  2  :  9).  ''For  this  God  is  our  God  for  ever 
and  ever :  he  will  be  our  guide  even  unto  death  " 
(Psa.  48  :  14). 

"Thy  shoes  shall  be  iron  and  brass;  and  as  thy 
days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be."  While  God  leads  the 
way,  we  shall  have  shoes  for  every  march,  and  strength 
for  every  contest  to  which  we  are  summoned  until  the 
end  of  our  pilgrim  course.  Do  we  really  believe  that  ? 
Are  we  ready  to  trust  God's  word  to  us,  as  to  our 
shoes,  and  as  to  our  days  ?  The  question  is  not 
whether  God  is  willing  to  do  as  he  has  promised,  but 
whether  zve  are  ready  to  rest  on  that  promise. 

Even  when  men  see  before  them  the  pillar  of  fire 
and  of  cloud,  marking  out  their  path  of  duty,  and 
when  they  hear  behind  them  the  voice  of  God's  Spirit, 
or  God's  providences,  saying  in  unmistakable  terms, 
"  This  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it  "  (Isa.  30  :  21),  how 
common  it  is  for  them  to  fear  lest  their  shoes  or  their 
strength  shall  fail ! 

The  young  man  going  out,  in  search  of  honest  em- 
ployment, from  a  quiet  country  home  into  the  excit- 
ing and  bewildering  whirl  of  a  great  city,  is  very  apt 
to  feel,  as  he  yields  to  temptations  from  without  and 
to  evil  promptings  from  within,  that  his  moral  shoes 
would  have  stood  the  wear  and  tear  of  a  country 
roadside  ;  but  that  these  city  pavements  are  too  hard 
treading  for  such  tender  feet  as  his — even  with  the 
strongest  covering  he  can  have  for  them. 


A  Shoe  Sermon  13 

If  he  goes  to  sea,  in  the  Hue  of  plain  duty,  he  is 
Hkely  to  think  that,  in  parting  with  the  gospel  institu- 
tions of  the  land,  he  leaves  hope  of  a  practical  religious 
life  behind  him.  Finding  the  means  of  support  for 
himself  and  for  his  loved  ones  in  a  factory  village, 
it  is  possible  that  he  will  think  that  no  other  place 
was  ever  so  full  of  inducements  to  evil,  so  barren  of 
helps  to  a  course  of  rectitude,  as  this.  Becoming 
a  student  at  the  academy  or  the  university  of  his 
own  or  of  parents'  most  careful  selection,  he  will 
perhaps  believe  that  almost  any  similar  institution 
of  learning  would  have  proved  to  him  a  surer  school 
of  virtue. 

If  he  is  employed  on  a  railroad,  or  at  a  hotel,  or  in 
a  hospital,  or  in  an  apothecary's  shop ;  if  he  becomes 
a  mechanic,  or  a  fisherman,  or  a  street  laborer,  or  a 
'  policeman, — whatever  he  has  to  do,  or  wherever  his  lot 
is  cast,  he  is  prone  to  take  the  same  view  of  the  resist- 
less power  of  his  surroundings — or  of  his  *'  environ- 
ment "  as  men  call  it  now-a-days. 

And  this  in  face  of  the  fact  that  city  life,  with  all 
its  temptations,  develops  some  of  the  highest  types 
of  personal  piety  and  Christian  manliness ;  that  in 
forecastle,  steerage,  and  cabin,  men  who  follow  the 
sea  are  found  faithfully  following  Christ;  that  each 
factory  village  and  mining  district  shows  noble  speci- 
mens of  godly  manufacturers  and  operatives ;  that  in 
the  very  academy  or  university  where  he  is  now  study- 
ing, are  those,  no  better  circumstanced  than  himself, 
who  honor  their  Christian  profession ;  and  that  God 


14     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

has  his  faithful  witnesses  at  hotels,  in  hospitals,  and  on 
railroads,  in  camp  and  on  the  march,  in  stores  and 
workshops,  and  in  professions  and  in  business  life, 
and  among  the  busy  toilers  and  burden-bearers  of 
every  proper  pursuit  of  mankind. 

Nor  is  it  the  young  alone  who  question  the  fitness 
of  their  moral  shoes,  and  the  fulness  of  their  moral 
strength  in  God's  service.  Men  and  women  of  maturer 
years  also  hesitate  to  cast  themselves  confidently  on 
the  promise  that  is  distinct  and  unequivocal  to  every 
soul  ready  to  stand  or  to  march  as  God  directs, 
"  Thy  shoes  shall  be  iron  and  brass  ;  and  as  thy  days, 
so  shall  thy  strength  be." 

Yet  the  promise  of  this  text  rests  not  alone  on  its 
primal  declaration.  Its  truth  is  continually  reaffirmed 
to  every  observing,  reflecting,  believing  mind,  in  the 
lessons  of  sight,  of  experience,  and  of  faith. 

7.  All  the  teachings  of  natui^e  e7iforce  this  text. 

Nature,  we  say,  adapts  its  gifts  to  the  need  of  its 
creatures.  That  is,  God  gives  a  supply  corresponding 
with  the  demand,  in  all  his  works  of  creation. 

Wings  are  for  the  air,  fins  are  for  the  sea,  feet  are 
for  the  ground,  webbed  feet  are  for  the  swimming 
bird.  The  beaver  knows  for  what  its  broad,  stout  tail 
is  designed.  The  ant-eater  understands  the  purpose 
of  its  prolonged  snout,  as  the  eagle  does  of  its  talons 
and  beak,  the  porcupine  of  its  quills,  and  the  cuttle- 
fish of  its  inky  store.  The  camel's  water-tank  hump 
meets  the  want  of  the  droughty  desert,  as  its  spreading 


A  Shoe  Sermon  15 


foot  does  the  yielding  sand.  The  elephant's  proboscis, 
the  flukes  of  the  whale,  the  shell  of  the  turtle,  the 
wing-  hooks  of  the  little  bat,  and  the  spider's  web- 
loom,  meet  each  a  peculiar  want  of  the  specific  owner. 
And  God's  wisely  bestowed  gifts  to  his  dumb  crea- 
tures are  often  changed  with  changing  circumstances 
or  locations.  The  varying  seasons  or  temperature 
bring  to  many  an  animal  a  change  of  coats.  The 
horse  and  the  dog  have  different  coverings  from  nature 
in  January  and  in  July  ;  and  the  farther  north  we  go 
the  thicker  and  warmer  we  find  the  fur  of  the  otter  or 
sable,  and  the  hair  of  the  fox  or  bear. 

As  with  animate  creations,  so  with  inanimate.  No 
stalk  is  so  frail  and  fragile  as  the  rank  sprout  spring- 
ing up  in  the  close,  dark  cellar,  where  there  is  least 
call  to  meet  exposure ;  while  the  tree  that  stands  all 
exposed  on  the  open  plain  to  the  storms  of  heaven 
has  strength  from  heaven,  above  its  species  in  the  pro- 
tecting forest ;  and  that  tree  is  ever  stoutest  which  has 
been  most  tried. 

When  the  branches  are  so  shaken  by  the  wind  that 
the  whole  tree  sways  to  and  fro  as  though  tottering 
for  a  fall, — then,  in  the  hour  of  danger,  nature  gives 
new  and  needed  strength,  by  sending  down  the  roots 
deeper  into  the  upholding  soil,  and  by  packing  the 
earth  closer  about  roots  and  trunk,  so  that  after  the 
storm  has  passed  away,  the  tree  when  again  at  rest 
is  only  firmer  than  before  in  the  place  where  God  has 
bidden  it  to  stand  fast,  having  had  reaffirmed  to  it  the 
declaration  which  nature  makes  unvaryingly  to  all  its 


1 6     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


minor  creations  :  "  Thy  shoes  shall  be  iron  and  brass ; 
and  as  thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be." 

And  to  Dian  nature  says  the  same,  concerning  his 
bodily  and  mental  organization  and  development,  as 
to  the  lower  orders  of  creation.  He  whose  work  calls 
for  most  strength,  has  most.  He  whose  new  circum- 
stances necessitate  greater  powers  of  endurance,  finds 
those  powers  enlarging.  The  blacksmith's  arm  or  the 
arm  of  the  college  oarsman  grows  strong,  not  weak, 
by  use.  The  railway  or  hotel  porter  keeps  pace,  in 
his  lifting  power,  with  the  expanding  size  of  a  lady's 
traveling  trunk,  as  he  continues  year  after  year  at  his 
toil.  The  child  of  poverty  who  has  no  protecting 
shoes  finds  his  bare  feet  becoming  almost  as  iron  and 
brass,  on  the  flinty  road  and  among  the  briers  of  the 
field.  The  student,  in  heavily  taxing  his  memory, 
finds  his  memory  more  tenacious. 

Other  things  being  equal,  he  who  studies  most, 
or.  who  teaches  most,  has  not  only  the  best  stored 
mind,  but  the  most  active  brain,  and  the  freest  mental 
faculties.  Use  summons  strength.  Supply  follows 
demand.  Give  your  son  a  {q\n  months  with  an  ex- 
ploring party  on  the  frontier,  or  let  him  have  a  season 
of  camping-out  in  the  woods,  or  a  real  fishing  cruise 
along  our  northeastern  coast, — with  the  exposures  and 
privations  of  such  a  life, — and  see  if  the  change  in 
him,  in  consequence,  is  not  one  of  increased  muscular 
compactness,  and  of  added  vitality  and  energy,  as  well 
as  of  improved  appetite  and  browned  complexion. 
As  he  needs  more  strength  he  is  likely  to  have  more. 


A  Shoe  Sermon  17 

Recall  the  numberless  verifications  of  this  truth  in 
the  experiences  of  our  Civil  War.  Many  a  delicate 
youth,  or  enfeebled  man,  who  then  grew  stronger  and 
gained  health  amid  the  endurances  of  camp  and  cam- 
paigning,— under  exposures  and  privations  which 
would  have  killed  him  at  his  home,  where  such 
exposures  and  privations  were  unnecessary, — could 
answer  the  inquiry  how  it  was  possible  for  him  to  live 
through  and  actually  to  thrive  by  such  endurances, 
only  by  affirming  that  nature  had,  in  his  case,  again 
made  good  the  assurance  it  proffers  to  every  man  in 
the  path  of  duty  anywhere :  *'  Thy  shoes  shall  be  iron 
and  brass ;  and  as  thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be." 

2.  Moreover,  the  experiences  of  viankind  bear  con- 
stant zvitness  to  the  truth  of  our  text. 

In  practical  life  we  find  that  that  man  is  not  holiest 
who  is  remotest  from  surroundings  of  evil.  "  The 
nearer  the  church,  the  farther  from  God,"  has  passed 
into  an  adage,  because  of  human  liability  to  go  astray 
in  even  the  most  religious  neighborhood.  Peculiar 
privileges  bring  peculiar  temptations.  Says  an  old 
commentator,  '*  The  Lord  never  revives  his  work  but 
the  devil  revives  his;  and  he  has  a  spire  of  sin  for 
every  spire  of  grace." 

"  Wherever  God  erects  a  house  of  prayer, 
The  devil  always  builds  a  chapel  there." 

It  was  while  God  was  still  manifesting  his  awful 
presence  at  Sinai,  that  Israel  made  the  golden  calf  to 
worship.     And  it  was  ''after  the  sop"  of  affection  and 


1 8     Shoes  and  Ratio7is  for  a  Long  March 

confidence  at  the  Last  Supper,  that  Satan  entered  into 
Judas  (John  13  :  24-27).  "  It  is  the  man  bringing  his 
dividend  from  the  bank  door,"  says  quaint  John  New- 
ton, "  who  has  most  cause  to  dread  the  pilferer's  hand." 

No  rehgious  atmosphere  excludes  temptation  ;  no 
religious  occupation  destroys  its  power.  Sinful 
promptings  and  impellings  have  to  be  met  and  battled 
in  the  closet  and  in  the  prayer-meeting,  in  the  pulpit 
and  in  the  pew,  in  visits  of  Christian  charity,  and  even 
at  the  table  of  our  Lord.  On  the  other  hand,  no 
presence  of  evil  necessitates  indulgence  in  sin.  Some 
of  the  godliest  men  and  women  in  the  world  are  those 
whose  purity  and  uprightness  stand  out  the  more 
because  of  their  surroundings  of  vice  and  wickedness. 

The  Christian  missionary  in  a  heathen  land,  or  in 
our  city  slums,  is  not  expected  to  lower  his  moral 
standard  on  account  of  the  vile  practices  of  the  peo- 
ple about  him.  Who  would  fear  that  a  mission-school 
teacher  would  be  more  liable  to  swerve  from  a  course 
of  rectitude  through  the  nearness  of  dens  of  iniquity 
to  the  room  in  which  he  pursues  his  love-inspired 
work  ?  As  a  rule,  the  opposer  of  evil  is  found  firmer 
in  his  purpose  of  good,  and  stionger  for  its  prosecu- 
tion, when  brought  of  God  face  to  face  with  the  enemy 
he  has  volunteered  to  battle. 

It  is  the  same  with  strength  against  trial  as  with 
strength  against  evil.  In  quiet  home  life,  many  a  frail 
and  delicate  young  mother  shows  a  strength  of  body 
in  her  prolonged  and  unintermitted  watching  over, 
or  tending,  an  invalid  child, — or  a  strength  of  mind 


A  Shoe  Sermon  19 


and  soul  in  rising  up  under  the  burden  of  sudden  and 
terrible  bereavement,  to  care  for  herself  and  her  chil- 
dren, instead  of  resting  with  them  as  hitherto  on 
another's  care, — such  powers  of  endurance  and  suffer- 
ing and  performance  as  none  who  knew  her  had  sup- 
posed were  hers ;  such  indeed  as  she  did  not  possess 
until  her  new  demands  summoned  the  new  supply, 
which  is  ever  ready  for  those  who  need  and  trust. 

Did  you  never  see  a  lad,  suddenly  bereft  of  his 
father,  so  transformed  by  his  consciousness  of  new 
responsibility  for  the  remaining  household — so  lifted, 
as  it  were,  to  a  higher  sphere  of  thought  and  charac- 
ter by  the  "  evolution  of  catastrophism  " — as  to  change 
his  whole  outward  appearance  in  a  few  brief  days  ; 
the  expression  of  his  face  so  maturing,  and  his  manly 
young  form  so  uplifting  and  expanding,  as  to  make 
him  hardly  recognizable  by  those  who  knew  him  in 
his  days  of  reliance  on  the  one  whose  place  he  is  now 
summoned  to  fill  ?  As  you  looked  at  such  a  youth, 
you  might  have  realized  anew  the  truth  of  our  text, 
and  believed  that  he  too  had  been  supplied  with  new 
shoes  for  his  new  journey,  and  given  strength  he  had 
no  need  of  prior  to  his  days  of  bereavement. 

God  be  praised  that  such  shoes,  and  such  strength, 
shall  never  be  lacking  to  any  dutiful  and  trustful  dis- 
ciple of  Jesus  !     For,  mark  you  : 

J.  The  word  of  God  is  pledged  in  confirmation  of  the 
pronnse  of  our  text. 

**  The  grass  withereth,  the  flower  fadeth  :  but  the 


20     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Loiig  March 

word  of  our  God  shall  stand  for  ever"  (Isa.  40  :  8 ; 
I  Peter  i  :  24,  25).  What  has  been  divinely  spoken 
will  be  divinely  fulfilled.  Even  if  the  teachings  of 
nature  gave  no  encouragement  to  a  belief  in  this  text, 
and  the  experiences  of  mankind  up  to  this  time  failed 
to  bear  witness  to  its  truth,  the  child  of  God  would 
still  have  the  word  of  God  as  explicit,  and  as  not  to  be 
doubted,  that  his  shoes  shall  be  iron  and  brass ;  and 
that  as  his  days,  so  shall  his  strength  be. 

If  it  be  necessary,  God  can  work  a  miracle — doing 
that  which  is  far  above  the  ordinary  course  of  nature, 
and  contrary  to  the  lessons  of  experience.  God  will 
work  ten  thousand  miracles  before  his  word  shall  fail, 
or  one  jot  or  tittle  of  it  pass  away  unfulfilled. 

Hath  not  God  said  to  each  and  to  all  of  his  trust- 
ful children  :  "  Fear  thou  not ;  for  I  am  with  thee  :  be 
not  dismayed ;  for  I  am  thy  God  :  I  will  strengthen 
thee ;  yea,  I  will  help  thee ;  yea,  I  will  uphold  thee 
with  the  right  hand  of  my  righteousness  "  (Isa.  41  :  10) ; 
**  When  thou  passest  through  the  waters,  I  will  be 
with  thee ;  and  through  the  rivers,  they  shall  not 
overflow  thee  :  when  thou  walkest  through  the  fire, 
thou  shalt  not  be  burned ;  neither  shall  the  flame 
kindle  upon  thee  "  (Isa.  43  :  2)  ;  **  My  grace  is  sufficient 
for  thee  :  for  my  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness  " 
(2  Cor.  12  :  9), — my  power  is  completest  when  your 
need  is  greatest  ?  And  shall  not  God  perform  to  the 
uttermost  his  explicit  and  oft-repeated  promises  to  the 
children  of  his  love  ? 

Child  of  God  !  take  heart  then :  for  nature,  experi- 


A  Shoe  Sermon  21 

ence  and  revelation  unite  to  give  you  cheer.  "  Be 
strong  and  of  a  good  courage ;  be  not  afraid, 
neither  be  thou  dismayed :  for  the  Lord  thy  God  is 
with  thee  whithersoever  thou  goest  "  (Josh,  i  :  9). 
Never  fear  the  length  of  the  path  of  duty,  nor  the 
flints  and  thorns  which  beset  its  track :  "  Thy  shoes 
shall  be  iron  and  brass."  Never  shrink  from  the 
wearisomeness  of  the  way  where  God  leads,  nor  from 
the  sun  and  the  storms  of  its  dragging  hours:  "As 
thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be." 

In  your  home  as  now  constituted  (or  in  any  new 
home  to  which  you  may  be  called)  ;  in  the  profession 
or  occupation  you  are  now  pursuing ;  in  the  school, 
or  store,  or  office,  or  mill,  or  hotel,  or  hospital,  where 
you  are  engaged;  with  your  existing  surroundings; 
with  your  past  record  of  sins,  and  follies,  and  wretched 
mistakes ;  with  your  habits  and  appetites  and  passions 
just  as  they  are, — stand  firm,  and  be  strong;  yield 
not  to  evil,  falter  not  in  trust.  "  God  is  faithful,  who 
will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above  that  ye  are 
able  ;  but  will  with  the  temptation  also  make  a  way 
to  escape,  that  ye  maybe  able  to  bear  it "  (i  Cor. 
10  :  13).  You  **can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
which  strengtheneth  "  you  (Phil.  4  :  13).  Holding  the 
hand  of  Jesus,  you  shall  not  fall  nor  fail.  Your  shoes 
and  your  strength  shall  endure  unto  the  end. 

"  Weary  and  thirsty — no  water-brook  near  thee, 
Press  on  ;  nor  faint  at  the  length  of  the  way. 
The  God  of  thy  Hfe  will  assuredly  hear  thee : 
He  will  provide  thee  strength  for  the  day. 


2  2     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  Alarch 

"  Be  trustful,  be  steadfast,  whatever  betide  thee ; 
Only  one  thing  do  thou  ask  of  the  Lord : 
Grace  to  go  forward,  wherever  he  guides  thee, 
Simply  beheving  the  truth  of  his  word." 

"Thy  shoes  shall  be  iron  and  brass;  and  as  thy 
days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be."  "  T/if  shoes  !  "  "  T/ij 
days  !  "  Do  you  note  that?  Not  the  shoes,  nor  the 
days,  of  another;  but  t/unc  ozvn. 

Be  sure  then  that  you  stand  in  your  own  shoes, 
that  you  seek  to  occupy  only  your  own  days.  Absa- 
lom craved  the  shoes  of  his  kingly  father;  he  slipped 
in  his  effort  to  walk  in  them.  Jonah  would  have  had 
strength  for  a  journey  to  Nineveh;  but  he  lacked  it 
to  make  the  voyage  from  Joppa  to  Tarshish. 

He  who  walks  in  any  path  but  that  of  duty  walks 
in  other  shoes  than  his  own  ;  the  days  he  passes  there 
are  not  his  days  :  he  has  no  strength  for  their  trials 
or  needs.  No  promise  of  shoes  or  strength  is  to  him 
who  walketh  in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly,  or  stand- 
eth  in  the  way  of  sinners,  or  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the 
scornful ;  who  enters  into  the  path  of  the  wicked,  and 
goeth  in  the  way  of  evil  men. 

While  a  man's  duty  is  at  sea,  his  shoes  are  not 
suited  to  land  travel ;  while  his  duty  is  in  the  city,  he 
has  not  strength  for  a  day  in  the  country,  or  by  the 
seaside,  winter  or  summer.  A  mother's  place  may 
be,  on  the  Lord's  day,  in  the  nursery,  while  her  "  soul 
longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for  the  courts  of  the 
Lord  "  (Psa.  84  :  2).  If  this  be  so, — if  her  place  is 
there, — then  in  that  family  room,  with  her  children 


A  Shoe  Sermon  23 

about  her,  she  can  look  for  such  grace, — such  dehght- 
ful,  satisfying  evidence  of  God's  sacred  presence  in 
her  heart, — as  she  could  not  find  in  the  grandest  tem- 
ple of  earth,  with  the  most  devoted  band  of  worshipers, 
sitting  under  the  teachings  of  the  most  eloquent  and 
earnest  minister  of  Christ  who  ever  expounded  the 
word  of  God  to  a  waiting  people. 

Thus  also  with  the  physician,  or  the  nurse,  whose 
station  is  by  the  bedside  of  a  suffering  patient ;  thus 
with  the  sailor  on  the  vessel's  deck,  far  beyond  the 
sound  of  the  Sabbath  bell ;  with  the  druggist's  clerk, 
the  housemaid,  the  policeman,  or  the  soldier ;  thus 
with  him  who  must  teach  when  he  would  fain  listen ; 
thus  with  every  person  who  must  forgo  ordinary 
means  of  grace,  or  meet  extraordinary  temptations  at 
the  post  of  duty  anywhere. 

Men  of  capital,  men  of  labor,  professional  men, 
travelers  and  students,  women  and  children  and 
youth,  are  to  be  anxious  only  as  to  whether  they  are 
in  just  the  place,  and  at  just  the  occupation  to  which 
they  have  been  summoned  by  the  providences  of 
God. 

That  point  settled  aright, — as  it  can  be, — and  they 
need  have  no  concern  for  their  surroundings  ;  no  fear 
that  they  shall  there  be  unable  to  serve  God  wholly 
and  heartily  and  acceptably ;  for  they  are  more  likely 
to  lead  a  holy  life  in  that  place  than  anywhere  else  on 
the  face  of  the  whole  wide  earth,  because  God  can, 
and  does,  make  city  and  country  and  village  and 
ocean,  field   and  workshop    and    home   and    school, 


24  Shoes  and  Ratiojis  for  a  Long  March 

spheres  of  grace  to  such  of  his  children  as  belong 
there.  To  all  such  his  heavenly  promise  rings  out 
clearly  and  continually  above,  and  yet  in  truest  har- 
mony with,  the  teachings  of  successive  ages,  and  in 
chord  with  nature's  grandest  melodies,  "Thy  shoes 
shall  be  iron  and  brass ;  and  as  thy  days,  so  shall  thy 
strength  be." 


A  SERMON  ON  THIRST 


II 

A  SERMON  ON  THIRST 

The  first  sermon  I  preached  as  a  chaplain  was  writ- 
ten before  I  was  a  chaplain,  and  was  planned  long 
before  I  had  any  thought  of  ever  being  in  the  Chris- 
tian ministry ;  but  it  was  none  the  less  closely  con- 
nected in  its  subject  and  substance  with  my  army 
chaplaincy.  Its  truth  has  grown  upon  me  in  its  im- 
portance in  the  passing  of  more  than  twoscore  years. 

In  1859  I  was  in  Philadelphia  to  attend  a  national 
Sunday-school  convention  in  Jayne's  Hall,  on  lower 
Chestnut  Street.  My  host  was  the  venerable  Am- 
brose White,  at  his  home  in  Arch  Street.  Going 
from  his  residence  to  the  convention,  I  passed 
Massey's  great  brewery,  then  on  Tenth  Street,  above 
Market,  and  its  open  doors  and  large  vats  attracted 
my  attention,  and  started  me  on  a  train  of  thought. 
The  busy  workmen,  the  rumbling  teams,  the  hundreds 
of  casks,  the  filled  troughs  and  gutters,  which  I  saw, 
were  an  illustration  of  the  constant  and  costly  efforts 
to  satisfy  or  to  minister  to  men's  ceaseless  cravings 
for  drink.  What  want  in  the  world  equals  thirst,  and 
how  vain  and  mocking  are  man's  endeavors  to  supply 
what  in  this  realm  is  longed  for ! 

27 


28     Shoes  a7id  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


As  I  walked  on  to  the  hall,  the  greatness  of  that 
thought  grew  on  me.  The  words  of  Jesus  at  Jacob's 
Well  to  the  woman  of  Samaria  who  asked  him  for  a 
drink,  came  to  my  mind.  I  thought  that  day  that  if 
I  were  a  clergyman  I  should  want  to  preach  from  that 
text  to  a  thirsty  world.  As  days  and  years  went  by, 
I  still  had  that  thought  in  mind — or  that  thought  had 
me.  When,  unexpectedly,  I  was  called  to  be  a  regi- 
mental chaplain,  I  thought  yet  more  deeply  of  that 
proposed  sermon.  Having  decided  to  accept  the  call, 
I  began  my  first  sermon  before  I  was  examined  for 
ordination.  I  first  preached  the  sermon  in  Williams- 
burg, Long  Island,  on  my  way  to  my  regiment  in 
North  Carolina. 

Of  course,  I  had  occasion  to  change  the  form  and 
illustrations  of  the  sermon  so  as  to  adapt  it  more  fit- 
tingly to  a  soldier  audience  as  I  came  to  understand 
soldiers.  Yet  its  truth  grew  on  me  steadily.  It  be- 
came a  prominent  phase  of  my  gospel  preaching  to 
soldiers  or  to  civilians.  Later  I  sought  to  make  more 
vivid  and  graphic  the  scene  at  the  well  of  Jacob.  In 
my  library,  after  the  war,  I  studied  the  region  by  the 
aid  of  maps  and  books  of  travel.  I  sought  to  know 
precisely  what  could  be  seen  in  all  directions  by  a 
traveler  seated  by  that  well.  It  became  one  of  the 
points  of  greatest  interest  to  me  in  the  Holy  Land. 

Years  afterward,  when  for  the  first  time  I  was 
traveling  in  that  region,  I  had  a  special  desire  to  be 
at  that  very  spot.  I  turned  aside  from  the  road  be- 
tween Jerusalem  and  Nabloos  to  find  a  seat  there. 


A  Se7nnon  on  Thirst  29 

The  country  and  views  about  me,  north,  east,  south, 
west,  to  the  far  horizon,  seemed  sacredly  famiHar. 
And  in  that  new  atmosphere  the  central  truth  of  that 
scene  seemed  yet  more  precious  than  ever.  I  wish 
that  this  sermon  could  be  of  as  much  good  to  some 
one  who  reads  it  as  it  has  been  to  me  in  its  writing 
and  in  its  contemplation. 


SOUL-THIRST,  AND  ITS  QUENCHING 

Whosoever  drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst  again  : 
but  wJiosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  2ip  into 
everlasting  life  (John  4  :  13,  14). 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  spots  in  all  Palestine  is 
that  of  which  the  ancient  well  of  Jacob  is  the  center, 
about  half-way  between  Jerusalem  and  Jezreel.  It  is 
just  to  the  east  of  the  principal  traveled  road  through 
ancient  Canaan,  the  great  caravan  route  from  time 
immemorial  between  the  Nile  and  the  Euphrates,  the 
highway  of  the  nations  from  the  far  East  to  the  ever 
extending  West. 

Beyond  this  highway,  westward,  there  sweeps  the 
valley  of  Shechem,  between  the  mountains  :  Ebal  on 
the  north,  and  Gerizim  on  the  south  ;  "  a  valley  green 
with  grass,  gray  with  olives,  gardens  sloping  down  on 
every  side,  fresh  springs  rushing  down  in  all  directions." 

Northward  the  snowy  summit  of  Hermon  is  seen 
in  the  far  distance — above  the  hills  of  Ephraim. 
Eastward  are  the  hills  which  skirt  the  valley  of  the 
Jordan.  Southward  loom  up  the  hills  which  stand 
round  about  Jerusalem. 
30 


A  Sermon  on  Thirst  31 


Seventeen  centuries  before,  the  patriarch  Jacob, 
while  a  sojourner  in  that  land,  had  cut  down  a  hun- 
dred feet  and  more  through  the  limestone  rock  to  the 
living  springs  below  at  that  place,  in  order  to  secure 
water  for  his  thirsting  people  and  flocks.  Other  wells 
and  streams  were  near,  but  every  Oriental  land-owner 
must  have  water  on  his  own  domain,  in  order  to  be 
secure  against  enemies  shutting  him  in,  or  cutting  off 
his  water  supply  from  without.  And  Jacob's  Well 
has  there  stood  ever  since,  with  its  associations  so 
many  and  rich. 

The  well  is  on  the  northern  and  western  edge  of  the 
extensive  and  fertile  Plain  of  Mukhna,  or  '*  Plain  of 
the  Cornfields."  That  well-side  is  the  one  spot  on 
earth  where  we  may  be  sure  that  Jesus  stood  and  sat 
and  taught  while  he  was  here  among  men ;  and  even 
then  that  spot  was  rich  beyond  all  others  with  mem- 
ories of  the  ancient  days  of  God's  peculiar  people, 
and  with  associations  of  the  world's  great  conquerors. 
Jesus,  with  his  disciples,  was  returning  from  Judea 
to  his  home  in  Galilee.  Going  by  the  direct  route, 
instead  of  by  the  roundabout  way  east  of  the  Jordan, 
"he  must  needs  go  through  Samaria"  and  come 
near  this  well. 

The  feeling  was  very  bitter  between  Jews  and 
Samaritans.  Strict  Jews  counted  it  a  defilement  to 
partake  of  food  which  a  Samaritan  had  prepared.  But 
Jesus  was  above  all  such  prejudices  of  race,  and  when 
he  reached  this  spot  he  sent  his  disciples  into  the 
Samaritan  village  of  Sychar,  a  little  way  up  the  valley 


3  2     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

of  Shechem  ;  while  he,  *'  being  wearied  with  his  jour- 
ney, "  sat  down  by  the  well  to  rest. 

Many  a  mighty  one  of  old,  who  claimed  or  who 
sought  to  be  the  ruler  of  the  world,  had  halted  by 
that  well,  or  had  passed  and  repassed  along  the  high- 
way which  it  was  near. 

Kedor-la'omer,  the  Elamite  king  from  east  of  Baby- 
lon, made  his  great  campaign  westward  for  the  pur- 
pose of  controlling  this  road,  and  passed  over  it  with 
Lot  as  a  prisoner,  when  Abraham  was  in  pursuit  of 
him,  as  told  in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  Genesis. 

The  principal  kings  of  Egypt  went  this  way  and 
came  again,  on  their  marches  of  invasion  and  conquest ; 
from  the  days  of  Thotmes  and  Sety  and  Rameses, 
down  to  Shishak  and  Necho  and  the  Ptolemies,  Along 
it  also  had  passed  the  kings  of  Assyria  and  Babylon : 
Tiglath-pileser,  and  Sennacherib,  and  Shalmanezer, 
and  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  others. 

And  so,  also,  there  had  come  and  gone  Benhadad 
and  Hazael  and  Rezin  of  Syria,  and  Alexander  the 
Great  of  Macedon. 

Yet  never  had  that  highway  of  the  conquerors  felt 
the  tread  of  so  mighty  a  ruier,  whose  sway  should 
extend  so  widely  and  continue  so  long,  as  the  way- 
worn traveler  whose  tired  feet  rested  by  that  well  at 
that  noon-tide  hour,  while  his  few  humble  followers 
were  gone  to  the  neighboring  village  to  purchase 
bread. 

While  Jesus  waited  alone  by  the  well,  there  came 
thither  a  Samaritan  woman  to  draw  water,  probably 


A  Serrnoii  on  Thh^st  33 

for  the  laborers  who  were  at  work  in  the  great  corn- 
fields which  this  well  supplied.  Jesus  said  to  the 
woman,  "  Give  me  to  drink."  That  was  a  stranger 
question,  just  then  and  there,  than  we  might  be  in- 
clined to  suppose. 

An  Oriental  would  not,  as  a  rule,  speak  to  a  woman 
in  the  open  air;  far  less  would  he  seek,  through  shar- 
ing a  drink  with  a  recognized  alien,  to  make  a  friendly- 
compact  with  her.  In  the  East  the  giving  and  receiv- 
ing a  cup  of  cold  water  only  is  a  covenant,  or  truce, 
for  the  time  being,  between  even  deadly  enemies. 

When  Hormozan,  a  Persian  ruler,  surrendered  to 
the  Khaleef  Omar,  and  was  brought  into  the  presence 
of  his  captor,  he  asked  at  once  for  a  drink.  Omar 
asked  him  if  he  were  thirsty.  "  No,"  he  said,  "  I  only 
wish  to  drink  in  your  presence,  so  that  I  may  be  sure 
of  my  life."     On  this,  his  life  was  assured  him. 

When  Saladeen  had  defeated  the  Christians  in 
Palestine,  he  received  their  two  chief  leaders  in  his 
tent  as  prisoners.  The  king  of  the  Franks  he  seated 
by  his  side,  and  gave  him  drink  cooled  with  snow 
from  the  Lebanon.  When  this  king,  having  tasted  it, 
offered  it  also  to  Prince  Arnald,  Saladeen  protested, 
saying:  "This  wretch  shall  not  drink  of  the  water 
with  my  permission;  for  then  there  would  be  safety 
to  him."  Thereupon  he  struck  off  Prince  Arnald's 
head. 

No  wonder,  therefore,  in  view  of  this  state  of  things, 
that  the  woman  at  Jacob's  Well  was  surprised  when  a 
man  of  the  proud  Jewish  nation  actually  condescended 


34     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

to  ask  a  drink  of  water  from  a  woman  of  the  despised 
Samaritan  stock ;  and  that  she  responded  with  the 
question : 

"  How  is  it  that  thou,  being  a  Jew,  askest  drink  of 
me,  which  am  a  woman  of  Samaria  ?  " 

The  rejoinder  of  the  stranger  Jew  only  puzzled  her 
the  more.  "  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  If 
thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that 
saith  to  thee.  Give  me  to  drink ;  thou  wouldest  have 
asked  of  him,  and  he  would  have  given  thee  living 
water." 

**  Living  water  "  is  water  from  a  perennial  spring, 
as  distinct  from  ordinary  well  water,  or  cistern  water. 
And  "  living  water  "  is  to  this  day,  in  the  East,  cried 
by  the  water-carrier  in  the  crowded  city  streets  as 
''  The  gift  of  God  !    The  gift  of  God  !  " 

What  could  this  stranger  traveler,  without  pitcher 
or  cord,  mean  by  the  suggestion  that  he  could  better 
meet  her  thirst  than  she  his  ?  Wonderingly,  therefore, 
she  asked  of  him : 

"  Sir,  thou  hast  nothing  to  draw  with,  and  the  well 
is  deep  :  from  whence  then  hast  thou  that  living  water  ? 
Art  thou  greater  than  our  father  Jacob,  which  gave  us 
the  well,  and  drank  thereof  himself,  and  his  children, 
and  his  cattle  ?  " 

Then  it  was  that  Jesus  uttered  the  words  of  our 
text,  and  by  them  caused  the  Samaritan  woman  to 
wonder  more  than  before. 

"  Whosoever  drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst 
aeain :  but  whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I 


A  Sermon  on  Thirst  35 


shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst;  but  the  water  that  I 
shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him  a  weU  of  water  spring- 
ing up  into  everlasting  life." 

"  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him  shall  never  thirst !  "  What  a  promise  !  What  a 
thou^rht !     Never  to  thirst !     Never  to  thirst ! 

No  appetite  or  passion,  no  craving  or  desire,  is  so 
universal,  so  constant,  so  fierce,  and  so  resistless,  as 
thirst.  Thirst  was  the  first  want  of  the  first-born 
babe.  Amid  the  awful  terrors  of  Calvary,  thirst  forced 
an  agonized  cry  from  the  lips  of  the  dying  Redeemer. 
The  one  cry  that  has  come  back  to  us  from  a  spirit  in 
torment  was  for  a  drop  of  water  to  cool  a  tongue 
parching  with  thirst.  And  one  of  the  promises  pre- 
cious to  the  children  of  God  is,  that  in  heaven  they 
shall  not  thirst  any  more. 

To  slake  another's  thirst  but  for  a  moment,  is  a 
bounty  acknowledged  gratefully  by  man,  and  not  un- 
noticed by  God.  It  was  the  yielding  and  bestowing 
of  a  cup  of  drink  on  the  field  of  Zutphen  that  stands 
out  in  history  as  the  crowning  glory  of  Sir  Philip 
Sidney,  the  peerless  flower  of  chivalry.  Says  our 
Lord,  concerning  human  ministries  to  his  disciples : 
"  Whosoever  shall  give  to  drink  unto  one  of  these 
little  ones  a  cup  of  cold  water  only  in  the  name  of  a 
disciple,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  shall  in  no  wise  lose 
his  reward"  (Matt.  10  :  42). 

*'A  cup  of  cold  water  only!"  One  whose  lips 
have  parched  with  thirst  in  an  army-prison,  or  on  a 
sandy  march,  or  while  lying  wounded  on  a  field  of 


36     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

battle,  can  realize  the  preciousness  of  "  a  cup  of  cold 
water  only  "  as  others  cannot. 

After  one  of  the  battles  of  our  Civil  War,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  government  ambulance  corps  was  moving 
among  the  wounded  on  the  field,  assisting  in  their 
removal.  He  came  to  a  dying  Southern  soldier,  too 
far  gone  for  hope  through  removal.  As  he  stooped 
over  the  dying  man  with  a  kindly  word,  the  parching 
lips  asked  for  water.    The  lips  were  tenderly  moistened. 

"  Thank  you  !  Now  please  lay  my  cap  over  my 
face,  and  let  me  die." 

As  this  service  was  rendered  lovingly,  there  came 
another  call  from  the  dying  man : 

*'  Will  you  please  tell  me  your  name,  my  friend  ?  " 

"  Why,  of  course  I  will ;  but  why  do  you  ask  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  so  I  can  pray  God  through  all  eternity  to 
bless  you  for  giving  me  that  water !  " 

To  bring  water  for  his  thirst,  man  has  poured  out 
millions  upon  millions  for  costly  aqueducts,  the  very 
ruins  of  which  are  among  the  world's  wonders.  He 
has  bored  the  artesian  well  into  depths  which  could 
never  be  reached  by  cutting.  He  has  tunneled  under 
the  lake's  bottom,  miles  beyond  the  shore,  for  a  purer 
supply.  He  has  linked  the  desert  with  the  river  by 
chains  of  canals. 

Yet  at  the  best,  pure  water  has  not  always  satisfied 
man's  thirst ;  so  he  has  searched  the  world  over  for 
tempting  beverages,  and  has  taxed  the  ingenuity  of 
his  fellows  for  new  and  refreshing  drinks. 

To  meet  their  ceaseless  craving  for  drink,  men  have 


A  Sermon  on  Thirst  37 


yielded  all  hope  of  gain  and  honor  and  health  ;  haVe 
squandered  property,  made  home  desolate,  dear  ones 
wretched,  and  themselves  drunkards, — miserable  here, 
and  without  hope  for  hereafter. 

Desire  for  drink  has  crowded  our  almshouses,  and 
packed  our  jails.  It  has  lighted  the  incendiary's  torch, 
and  sharpened  the  assassin's  knife.  Long,  fearfully, 
hopelessly  has  the  power  of  its  curse  swept  the  wide 
world.  To  stay  its  ravages,  the  arm  of  the  civil  law 
and  the  open  hand  of  philanthrophy  have  been  ex- 
tended to  comparatively  litde  purpose. 

The  loneine  for  drink  has  been  neither  satisfied 
nor  removed.  Men  still  drink  and  thirst,  and  thirst 
and  drink  again.  Only  one  person  in  all  the  world, 
and  he  that  travel-worn  pilgrim  by  the  well  of  Jacob, 
has  ever  dared  confidently  to  say,  '*  Whosoever  drink- 
eth    of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall   never 

thirst." 

Is  it,  then,  strange  that  that  woman  of  Samaria,  as 
she  looked  into  those  clear  eyes  of  truth,  and  heard 
those  convincing  tones  of  sincerity,  should  start  at  the 
thought  of  the  breadth  and  fulness  of  that  unique 
declaration  ;  and,  remembering  all  her  weary  journeys 
to  and  from  that  well,  should  cry  out  in  earnestness  : 
"Sir,  give  me  this  water,  that  I  thirst  not,  neither 
come  hither  to  draw  "  ? 

But  it  was  the  thirst  of  the  soul,  and  not  merely 
bodily  thirst,  that  Jesus  claimed  power  to  quench; 
although  the  greater  pov/er  included  the  lesser,  and 
he  was    competent  to  both.     This   he  proceeded  to 


38     Shoes  and  Rations  /or  a  Long  Ma^^ch 

s'how  to  the  now  deeply  interested  woman,  in  their 
further  conversation. 

All  the  greater  and  more  precious  was  the  wonder- 
ful promise  of  Jesus,  as  thus  interpreted ;  for  universal, 
persistent,  fierce,  and  resistless  as  is  man's  bodily  crav- 
ing for  drink,  it  exceeds  in  no  degree  his  longing  for 
that  which  shall  refresh  and  satisfy  his  inner  and 
spiritual  nature. 

So  soon  as  a  human  soul  comes  to  consciousness, 
it  comes  to  soul-thirst.  So  long  as  the  human  soul 
exists,  it  must  have  soul-drink  or  be  in  torment. 
Religion  is  the  drink  of  the  soul.  The  soul  craves 
religion  as  the  lungs  crave  air.  The  soul  is  formed 
and  fitted  for  the  reception  of  religion,  as  the  eyes  are 
formed  and  fitted  for  the  reception  of  light. 

To  satisfy  their  soul-thirst,  men  give  and  struggle 
and  suffer  and  die.  Idolaters  "  lavish  gold  out  of  the 
bag,  and  weigh  silver  in  the  balance,  and  hire  a  gold- 
smith "  (Isa.  46  :  6),  to  secure  to  themselves  a  drink- 
ing-cup  for  the  soul.  Sages  of  old  joined  with  sove- 
reigns and  with  soldiers,  in  rearing  mighty  structures 
as  drinking-places  for  souls  that  were  athirst.  The 
costliest  buildings  of  earth  have  ever  been  those 
which  marked  the  spot  where  thirsting  souls  might 
find  refreshing. 

From  a  love  of  the  drink  of  the  soul  men  have 
given  up  property,  and  honors,  and  home,  and  friends, 
and  have  gone  cheerfully  into  prison  houses  or  into 
the  flames  with  the  longing  cry:  "As  the  hart  panteth 
after  the  water  brooks,  so  panteth  my  soul  after  thee, 


A  Sermon  on  Thirst  39 

O  God.  My  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  for  the  living 
God  "  (Psa.  42  :  I,  2).  "  My  soul  thirsteth  for  thee, 
my  flesh  longeth  for  thee  in  a  dry  and  thirsty  land, 
where  no  water  is  "  (Psa.  63  :  i). 

And  in  all  the  centuries  since  the  first  cry  for  drink 
went  up  from  a  thirsty  soul,  only  one  person,  and  he 
that  travel-worn  pilgrim  by  the  well  of  Jacob,  has 
ever  dared  confidently  to  say,  concerning  the  soul's 
thirst  for  God :  **  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water 
that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water 
that  I  shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water 
springing  up  into  everlasting  life."  Is  not  such  a 
word  as  that  worth  heeding  ?  Is  not  such  a  promise 
worth  testing  ? 

But  is  this  word  to  be  trusted  ?  Is  this  promise 
sure  ?  Many  a  word  of  hope  has  proved  false  ;  many 
a  glad  promise  has  failed  in  its  testing.  Is  there 
firmer  ground  of  confidence  in  this  case  ? 

Even  as  those  who  sought  the  quenching  of  their 
bodily  thirst  have  found  that  *'  wine  is  a  mocker " 
(Prov.  20  :  i),  that  "wine  and  new  wine  take  away  the 
hearf  (Hos.  4  :  11),  but  not  the  thirst;  even  as  pil- 
grims on  the  desert  have  perished  by  the  brink  of 
empty  wells,  where  their  thirst  had  been  mocked  as 
they  came  for  its  slaking ;  even  as  fainting  travelers 
have  been  deluded  by  the  mirage  of  the  desert  into 
one  more  vain  effort  to  reach  the  water  which  they 
longed  for, — even  so,  also,  thirsting  souls  have  been 
mocked  with  the  wine  of  superstition,  have  famished 
at  the  exhausted  cistern  of  a  false  religion,  or  have 


40     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

wasted  their  latest  strength  in  pursuing  the  mirage  of 
some  delusive  philosophy  of  first  causes  and  ultimate 
destiny. 

When  Philip  V,  of  Spain,  first  saw  in  full  play  the 
magnificent  new  fountains  he  had  erected  at  La 
Granja,  it  is  said  that  an  expression  of  pleasure  passed 
over  his  sad  face  ;  then  his  melancholy  look  returned, 
and  he  said,  bitterly  :  '*  Thou  hast  given  me  three  min- 
utes' distraction  from  my  cares  ;  and  thou  hast  cost 
me  three  millions."  Might  not  his  words  be  spoken 
of  many  a  costly  fountain  erected  to  gratify  man's 
spiritual  longings  ? 

The  ruins  of  such  fountains  dot  the  world  over. 
What  else  are  the  crumbling,  but  still  magnificent, 
temples  at  Nineveh  and  Nuffar,  at  Memphis  and 
Thebes,  at  Susa  and  Persepolis,  at  Athens  and  Rome, 
at  Mexico  and  Cuzco  !  Their  cost  was  millions.  Their 
relief  to  soul-thirst  was  momentary.  "  Broken  cis- 
terns "  are  they  all,  **  that  can  hold  no  water " 
(Jer.  2  :  13). 

Every  deserted  altar  to  an  unknown  god  to-day  is 
a  shattered  drinking-cup,  which  some  famishing  soul 
has  dashed  aside  because  of  its  bitter  mockery  of  the 
thirst  which  it  could  not  quench. 

The  saddest  hearts  in  all  the  world  to-day  are  those 
which  have  been  disappointed  in  their  search  for  that 
which  would  satisfy  their  spiritual  longings,  whose 
best  religious  experiences  have  been  "  as  when  a 
thirsty  man  dreameth,  and,  behold,  he  drinketh ;  but 
he  awaketh,  and,  behold,  he  is  faint,  and  his  soul  hath 


A  Sermon  on  Thirst  41 


appetite  "  (Isa.  29  :  8).  Is  there  surer  help  in  the 
promise  of  Jesus  by  the  well  of  Jacob?  Will  his 
word  of  hope  never  mock  or  delude  or  fail  a  thirsty 
soul  ? 

My  friends,  this  is  a  question  of  fact  rather  than  of 
opinion.  It  is  to  be  settled  by  testimony,  not  by 
argument.  There  stands  the  declaration  of  Jesus: 
"  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into 
everlasting  life." 

More  than  sixty  generations  of  believers  in  Jesus 
have  tested  this  promise,  and  are  witnesses  of  its  truth. 
Myriads  have  turned,  with  thirsty  souls,  to  Jesus; 
never  one,  never  one,  never  one  has  been  refused  or 
disappointed.  Men  and  women  and  children  who 
rested  on  this  promise  have  gone  calmly  into  the  fires 
of  martyrdom,  and  with  moistened  lips  have  sung  the 
praises  of  Jesus  while  the  flames  were  purifying  their 
bodies. 

Others  have  sorrowed  on  alone  in  life,  but  not  as 
those  who  had  no  hope  (i  Thess.  4  :  13).  They  have 
been  "troubled  on  every  side,  yet  not  distressed; 
.  .  .  perplexed,  but  not  in  despair  ;  persecuted,  but  not 
forsaken  ;  cast  down,  but  not  destroyed  "  (2  Cor.  4  : 
8,  9).  They  have  been  **  as  chastened,  and  not  killed  ; 
as  sorrowful,  yet  alway  rejoicing  ;  as  poor,  yet  making 
'  many  rich  ;  as  having  nothing,  and  yet  possessing  all 
things  "  (2  Cor.  6  :  9,  10). 


42     SJioes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

Many  of  you  here  before  me  are  also  witnesses  of 
these  things.  You  could  rise  up,  one  by  one,  and  say 
in  grateful  confidence : 

"  I  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus  say, 

'  Behold,  I  freely  give 
The  living  water  ;  thirsty  one, 

Stoop  down,  and  drink,  and  live  !  * 
I  came  to  Jesus,  and  I  drank 

Of  that  life-giving  stream  ; 
My  thirst  was  quenched,  my  soul  revived, 

And  now  I  live  in  him."  ^ 

Every  one  of  you  here  is  thus  satisfied  in  Christ; 
or  you  are  athirst  in  your  soul,  and  you  will  be  until 
you  test  this  promise  of  Jesus. 

My  friends,  I  have  been  over  many  a  battle-field  of 
life,  and  I  have  seen  Christian  soldiers  in  many  a  hard 
fight.  I  have  seen  many  wounded  ones  among  them, 
and  many  dying  ones  ;  but  I  never  saw  one  such  dis- 
ciple thirsting  hopelessly. 

I  have  seen  strange  sights,  and  heard  strange  words, 
in  the  world.  I  have  seen  brother  arrayed  against 
brother,  husband  against  wife,  parent  against  child. 
I  have  heard  fathers  curse  the  sons  who  had  dis- 
honored their  names,  and  sons  and  daughters  speak 
bitter  words  against  the  mothers  who  bore  them. 
But  I  never  yet  saw  a  disciple  of  Jesus  whom  the 
word  of  Jesus  had  failed.  I  never  yet  heard  one  say 
that  he  had  drunk  of  the  water  which  Jesus  proffers 
and  not  had  his  soul-thirst  quenched. 

^Horatius  Bonar. 


A  Sermon  on  Thirst  43 

Let  me  tell  you  a  single  incident  out  of  my  army 
experience,  as  illustrative  of  the  truth  I  am  emphasiz- 
ing. It  was  in  July,  1863.  While  a  prisoner  in  the 
city  of  Charleston,  I  was  paroled  for  a  time  from  the 
common  jail,  that  I  might  minister  to  our  wounded 
soldiers,  brought  up  from  before  Fort  Wagner,  on 
Morris  Island,  to  the  Yankee  Hospital,  which  was  the 
old  slave-pen  on  Queen  Street. 

The  surgeons'  tables  in  that  hospital  were  in  the 
court,  in  the  rear  of  a  high  brick  building,  where  the 
wounded  men  were  lying  before  and  after  their  opera- 
tions. When  brought  in,  the  men  were  laid  on  loose 
straw  on  the  lower  floors.  After  treatment  they  were 
laid  on  rude  cots  on  the  floors  above. 

They  could  not  all  be  attended  to  promptly ;  and 
on  Tuesday  morning  some  of  them  were  still  lying 
with  the  blood  unwashed  from  their  wounds  of  Satur- 
day night.  It  was  the  middle  of  July.  The  heat  of 
the  weather  was  added  to  the  loss  of  blood  in  intensi- 
fying the  thirst  of  the  poor  sufferers. 

My  mission  was  to  carry  water,  in  canteens,  from 
the  hydrant  in  the  courtyard  to  the  different  floors  of 
the  building,  to  pour  it  upon  those  who  were  thirsting. 
I  was  sure  of  a  welcome  in  this  mission  ;  for  with  the 
water  I  could  bring  unlooked-for  sympathy  from  a 
Union  chaplain  to  those  dear,  brave,  uncomplaining, 
suffering  soldiers. 

As  I  was  passing  along  on  the  upper  floor  of  that 
slave-pen  hospital,  a  Confederate  surgeon,  pointing  to 
a  cot,  said : 


44     Shoes  and  Rations  for^  a  Long  March 

"  Chaplain,  there's  a  httle  fellow  who  is  sinking 
rapidly.  He'll  not  live  many  hours.  I  think  you'd 
better  talk  with  him." 

On  that  prompting,  I  turned  to  the  "  little  fellow  " 
on  the  cot.  He  was  a  fair-faced,  bright-eyed  New 
England  lad,  barely  eighteen  years  old.  He  had  lost 
a  leg,  and  was  sinking  from  the  shock.  When  I  told 
him  who  I  was,  he  greeted  me  cheerily. 

"  You  are  very  badly  wounded,"  I  said. 

"  Oh,  not  so  very  badly,"  he  responded.  "  I've  only 
lost  one  leg  ;  and  a  good  many  men  have  lost  both, 
and  got  well." 

**  I  wish  yo2L  were  to  get  well,"  I  said,  shaking  my 
head  sadly. 

"  Why,  Chaplain,"  he  said,  evidently  startled  by  my 
look  and  tone,  "  you  don't  mean  that  I'm  going  to 
die,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  my  dear  boy,  I  mean  just  that." 

"  Oh,  but,  Chaplain,  I  can't  die.  I'm  only  a  boy  yet, 
and  I  can't  die." 

"  My  dear  boy,  I  wish  I  could  give  you  life ;  but  the 
doctor  says  you  must  die." 

"  But,  Chaplain,  I'm  not  ready  to  die." 

"  Jesus  Christ  can  make  you  ready — to  live  or  to 
die,  if  you'll  just  put  yourself  in  his  hands." 

"  Oh,  but.  Chaplain,  I've  been  a  very  wicked  boy.  I 
was  a  bad  boy  at  home ;  although  I  had  a  real  good 
home.  I've  got  a  real  good  father  and  mother  up  in  New 
Hampshire  ;  but  I  ran  away  from  them  and  enlisted  ; 
and  in  the  army  I've  been  just  as  bad  as  I  could  be." 


A  Sermon  on  Thirst  45 

"Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners, 
and  he  loves  to  have  those  who  have  been  bad  come 
to  him  to  be  saved.  You  can  come  to  him  now  as  a 
sinner,  and  ask  him  to  forgive  you  and  save  you ;  and 
he  will  do  it  gladly." 

"  Well,  will  you  pray  for  me,  Chaplain  ?  " 

"Of  course  I  will,"  I  said;  and  I  kneeled  by  his 
bedside,  and  prayed  with  and  for  him  in  loving  earn- 
estness. Then,  after  a  few  words  more  with  him,  I 
turned  to  other  sufferers,  promising  to  come  and  see 
him  again. 

After  a  little  I  came  back  to  his  bedside. 

"I've  been  looking  back,  Chaplain,"  he  said,  "and 
its  all  black,  all  black." 

"  Then  don't  look  back;'  I  said  ;  "  but  look  ///.  It's 
all  bright  there." 

"  But  you  don't  know,  Chaplain,  how  great  a  sinner 
I've  been." 

"  I  don't  care  to  know.  Jesus  knows.  And  you 
can't  have  been  so  great  a  sinner  as  he  is  great  a  Sav- 
iour. He  is  ready  to  save  to  the  uttermost  them  who 
come  unto  God  by  him." 

"  Do  you  mean.  Chaplain,  that  right  now  Jesus  will 
forgive  all  my  sins  if  I  ask  him  to  ?  " 

"  I  mean  just  that." 

"  Well,  Chaplain,  won't  you  pray  for  me  again  ?  " 

"Yes,  my  boy,  I'll  pray  for  you ;  but  I  want  you  to 
pray  for  yourself  Jesus  loves  to  have  those  who 
need  forgiveness  come  and  ask  for  it  themselves." 

Once   more   I  kneeled  and  prayed.     As  I  finished 


46     Shoes  and  Rations  fo7^  a  Long  March 

my  prayer,  I  laid  my  hand  tenderly  on  him,  and  said, 
"  Now  yoiL  pray." 

The  little  fellow  folded  his  hands  across  his  chest, 
and  prayed, — prayed  in  such  childlike  simplicity  and 
trust,  told  so  frankly  to  Jesus  the  story  of  his  sins, 
and  asked  in  such  loving  confidence  for  forgiveness, 
that  I  was  sure  his  prayer  was  answered  while  it  was 
offering,  and  that  another  thirsty  soul  was  being  re- 
freshed with  the  water  that  Jesus  gives. 

As  I  arose  from  my  knees,  I  saw  that  we  were  not 
alone.  That  childlike  prayer,  in  that  childlike  voice, 
had  drawn  the  attention  of  surgeons,  nurses,  and 
visitors,  in  the  prison-hospital,  and  they  stood  about 
us,  listening  in  tearful  sympathy. 

A  third  time,  after  a  brief  absence,  I  was  by  that 
soldier  lad.  His  eyes  were  closed.  His  face  was  very 
pale.  At  first  I  thought  he  had  already  passed  away, 
and  I  stooped  over  him  to  find  if  he  were  still  breath- 
ing. Seeming  to  feel  my  presence,  he  opened  his 
eyes,  and  for  a  moment  looked  up  vacantly.  Then, 
as  full  consciousness  returned,  he  recognized  me  with 
an  "  Oh,  it's  you,  Chaplain  !  "  and  throwing  up  both  his 
arms  he  clasped  them  about  my  neck,  and  drew  my 
face  down  to  his  to  give  me  a  dying  kiss. 

"  You  are  the  best  friend  I've  got  in  the  world,"  he 
said.     "  You've  saved  my  soul." 

"  No,  no,  my  dear  boy,"  I  said  tenderly.  "  Jesus 
saves  your  soul." 

"  Yes,  yes  ;  but  you've  told  me  about  Jesus ;  and  he's 
saved  my  soul.     He  has.  Chaplain;  I  don't  have  any 


A  Sermon  on  Thirst  47 

doubt  about  it.  He  has  forgiven  all  my  sins.  And 
now  I'm  going  to  be  with  him.  Oh,  how  happy  my 
father  and  mother  will  be.  I  want  you  to  write  and 
tell  them  all  about  it." 

And "  it  was  while  I  stood  listening  to  the  joyous 
words  of  that  forgiven  sinner  that  I  was  tapped  on 
the  shoulder,  and  summoned  away  under  arrest  as  a 
spy,  to  be  shut  in  solitary  prison  confinement,  never 
to  see  that  dear  boy  again  until  he  and  I  stand  together 
in  our  Saviour's  presence. 

As  I  recall  that  hospital  incident  out  of  the  dark 
memories  of  my  army-prison  life,  it  seems  to  me  that 
when  I  w^ent  to  that  wounded  soldier's  cot,  carrying 
water  for  the  moistening  of  his  fevered  lips.  He  who 
sat  by  the  well  of  Jacob  said  of  that  which  I  had  to 
proffer  to  the  suffering  boy  : 

"  Whosoever  drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst 
again  :  but  whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I 
shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I 
shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  spring- 
ing up  into  everlasting  life." 

And  that  word  of  promise  was  then  and  there  made 
good,  as  it  always  will  be  to  one  who  tests  its  truth. 

**  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the 
waters"  (Isa.  55  :  i).  "And  the  Spirit  and  the  bride 
say,  Come.  .  .  .  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come. 
And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely"  (Rev.  22  :  17). 


GAIN  OF  GODLINESS 


Ill 

GAIN  OF  GODLINESS 

Even  in  my  army  life  I  often  had  occasion  to 
preach  the  same  truth  at  different  times  to  very  dif- 
ferent audiences.  In  such  ways  a  subject  would 
grow  on  me  by  its  being  looked  at  in  different  lights 
and  under  different  circumstances ;  and  I  trust  that  I 
grew  under  the  influence  of  the  subject.  I  rarely 
wanted  to  preach  once  on  a  subject,  without  want- 
ing to  preach  on  that  subject  more  than  once.  And 
each  time  that  I  repeated  a  sermon,  its  subject  seemed 
more  important  and  suggestive  than  I  had  ever  before 
seen  it  to  be.  Fresh  phases  of  the  main  truth  pre- 
sented themselves,  and  I  wanted  to  press  them  freshly 
on  others.  New  illustrations  were  given  to  enforce  the 
truth  declared. 

For  some  months  in  1863  I  was  with  my  regiment 
on  Seabrook  Island,  in  connection  with  the  prolonged 
siege  of  Charleston.  It  was  wearisome  waiting  in 
inaction,  and  it  was  necessary  to  strive  more  than  in 
times  of  active  service  to  keep  officers  and  men  up  to 
a  proper  moral  and  spiritual  standard.  In  this  line  of 
endeavor,  I  preached  a  sermon  on  "  The  Gain  of  Godli- 
ness," or  the  practical  profitableness  of  right-doing. 

51 


5  2     Shoes  a7id  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


Not  many  weeks  after  this  I  was  taken  prisoner  on 
Morris  Island,  and  was  shut  up  in  Charleston  jail. 
Thence  I  was  taken  to  Columbia  jail,  where  I  was 
confined  with  various  officers  from  our  army  and 
navy.  Being  permitted  to  preach  there  on  Sundays, 
I  preached  on  the  same  subject  to  a  different  audience, 
and  with  an  increased  interest  in  the  subject.  After 
my  release  from  the  army  prison,  I  preached  a  third 
time  about  it  in  St.  Augustine,  Florida.  And  yet 
later,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  I  found  pleasure  in 
re-writing  and  re-preaching  sermons  on  the  important 
theme  that  had  kept  its  growing  hold  on  me.  In  the 
later  form,  as  a  growth  from  its  "  Seabrook  Island  " 
germ,  I  now  include  it  with  the  others. 

I  preached  this  sermon  on  one  occasion  before  the 
students  of  Amherst  College.  More  than  thirty  years 
afterwards  I  met,  one  summer  at  the  Isles  of  Shoals, 
a  gentleman  who  was  Professor  of  Greek  in  the  Bos- 
ton Latin  School.  He  referred  to  this  sermon,  which 
he  had  heard  as  an  undergraduate  in  Amherst.  He 
repeated  the  text  and  the  opening  sentences  of  my 
sermon,  and  he  gave  the  main  points  and  some  of  the 
illustrations  of  the  sermon.  Yet  for  years  before  he 
thus  reminded  me  of  it  I  had  not  thought  of  the  ser- 
mon. I  then  looked  it  up,  revised  and  re-preached  it, 
and  it  is  in  this  shape  that  it  is  now  given. 


PROFIT  OF  GODLINESS 

Godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  tilings,  having  promise 
of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come 
(i  Tim.  4  :  8). 

Godliness  is  profitable.  Well,  if  godliness  is  profit- 
able, godliness  ought  to  be  attractive.  Men  want  a 
share  in  almost  anything  that  gives  promise  of  being 
profitable.  Men  will  work  in  a  powder  mill  or  a 
dynamite  factory,  will  handle  nitro-glycerin  or  live 
electric  wires,  if  it  seems  profitable  to  do  so.  Men 
will  work  under  ground  in  a  coal  mine  or  a  sewer,  or 
will  stand  above  ground  in  the  light  without  working; 
they  will  '*  strike  "  for  higher  wages,  and  then  keep  on 
persistently  in  the  fight,  or  submit  and  go  back  at  the 
old  rates,  as  the  one  course  or  the  other  appears  to  be 
profitable — whether  it  proves  so  or  not. 

If  it  promises  to  be  profitable,  men  will  start  for  the 
Klondike  or  the  Philippines  in  the  autumn,  in  the  face 
of  famine  or  freezing ;  or  they  will  take  a  seat  in  a 
balloon — with  a  circus  performer,  or  with  a  man  of 
science,  for  the  next  town  or  for  the  North  Pole.  In 
the  hope  of  finding  it  profitable,  men  will  manufacture 
rum  or  will  sell  it,  will  buy  lottery  tickets,  or  gamble 
in  stocks,  or  bet  on  an  election,  or  a  horse-race,  or  a 

53 


54     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

game  of  football.  Burglars  will  rob  a  bank,  and 
sometimes  bank  directors  will  make  terms  with  the 
burglars — compound  a  felony — if  it  bids  fair  to  be 
profitable. 

Politicians  will  say  or  do  almost  anything, — take 
double  pay,  or  give  back  what  they  have  taken  ;  vote 
to  increase  appropriations,  or  to  reduce  allowances; 
favor  gold  or  silver  or  currency,  or  all  three  together, 
as  the  standard  of  values  ;  approve  or  denounce  civil 
service  reform ;  work  to  send  a  party  leader  to  the 
penitentiary  or  to  the  national  capital ;  or  talk  one 
way  and  vote  another, — according  to  the  prospect  of 
profitableness  in  so  doing. 

Most  of  the  hard  work,  and  the  folly,  and  the  crime 
of  the  world  are  the  result  of  the  desire  to  do  what  is 
profitable.  No  such  question  as,  Is  it  pleasant  ?  or,  Is 
it  easy  ?  or.  Is  it  right  ?  bears  comparison,  in  potency 
and  universal  application  in  the  business  of  everyday 
life,  with  the  question.  Is  it  profitable?  When,  there- 
fore, the  sure  word  of  God  calls  attention  to  a  thing 
as  "  profitable,"  it  ought  to  have  the  ears  of  every- 
body ;  for  whatever  is  really  profitable  we  all  want  to 
know  about. 

But  what  does  God's  word  say  is  profitable  ?  "  God- 
liness is  profitable."  Godliness  is  God-likeness,  being 
like  God,  being  and  doing  as  God  would  have  us  to 
be  and  to  do.  Jesus  Christ  showed  in  his  life  what  it 
is  to  be  godly,  to  be  God-like.  His  example  is  a  guide 
for  our  conduct  if  we  would  have  godliness;  and  such 
godliness  is,  we  are  assured,  profitable.     Godliness, 


Gain  of  Godliness  5  5 


as  right  being  and  right  doing,  is  declared  to  be 
profitable.  Profitable  unto  ivhat?  Profitable  how 
far?  Profitable  unto  all  things.  That  is  the  assur- 
ance. It  could  not  be  more  sweeping, — "unto  all 
things  ;  "  no  limitations  of  any  sort, — unto  the  utter- 
most, unto  all  things. 

There  are  many  investments  which  pay  in    some 
things,  but  not   in   others.     Mere  "  bodily  exercise," 
the  Bible  tells  us  in  this  very  connection,  "  profiteth  " 
a  "  little."     Bicycling  and  golf  have  their  profitable- 
ness  in  their  spheres.     Eating  and  drinking,  riding 
and  walking,  sleeping  and  waking,  talking  and  reading, 
are   profitable  in   their  way   at  their  time.     A  good 
tailor  or  milliner  may  be  profitable  in  the  department 
of  becoming  dress.     Making  guns  and  cartridges  is  a 
profitable  business  in  war-time  or  in   days   of  labor 
riots  ;  so  is  the  manufacture  of  coffins  in  a  season  of 
pestilence.     Having  "  a  good  time  "  seems  more  profit- 
able to  a  "  fast  "  youth  over  night  than  it  does  the  next 
morning.     Living  for  wealth,  or  pleasure,  or  fame,  or 
knowledge,  or  human  love,  looks  profitable  in  some 
aspects  of  life  and  for  the  passing  hour ;  but  no  one 
of  these  things,  nor  all  these  together,  can  be  called 
profitable  unto  "all  things." 

Only  God  can  give  a  promise  for  all  things.  He 
says  that  "  godliness  " — God-serving,  right  being  and 
doing — "  is  profitable  unto  all  things."  Who  would 
not  have  a  share  in  such  an  investment  ? 

But  when  are  these  dividends  payable  ?  How  soon 
do  the  returns  of  godliness  as  an  investment  come  in  ? 


56     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


The  text  gives  a  plain  answer  to  these  questions. 
*'  GodHness  is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having 
promise  of  the  life  that  now  is."  That  is  encouraging. 
The  life  that  now  is  is  an  important  life  to  all  of  us. 
It  is  the  only  life  that  we  know  much  about  practically ; 
and  it  is  the  life  that  most  of  us  feel  most  interest  in. 
We  should  be  sorry  to  have  no  reward  in  this  life  for 
our  best  doing  and  being  while  it  is  passing. 

It  requires  faith  and  courage  and  patience  to  make 
an  investment  of  one's  powers  and  possessions  in  an 
enterprise  that  gives  no  promise  or  hope  of  any  return 
in  one's  lifetime.  A  proffer  of  that  sort  would  not  be 
attractive  to  the  average  man.  Yet  God's  appeals  are 
to  the  average  man,  as  well  as  to  those  above  and  to 
those  below  the  average.  God  does  not  ask  those 
who  toil  for  him  to  wait  until  another  life  for  their 
best  gains.  His  service  gives  "promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is." 

No  earthly  service  pays  more  surely  or  more 
promptly  than  God's  service.  The  right  way  through 
this  life  is  the  best  way  in  this  life.  Living  so  as  to 
fit  one's  self  for  a  higher  life  pays  better  here  and  now 
than  any  other  kind  of  living.  Even  if  there  were  no 
hereafter,  a  man  would  be  the  gainer  here  by  right 
being  and  right  doing, — by  "  godliness."  The  matter- 
of-fact  world  admits  this  when  it  says,  "  Honesty  is 
the  best  policy."  Integrity  is  always  safest  for  a  man. 
God's  laws  govern  not  only  the  highest  interests  but 
the  lowest.  His  "  commandment  is  exceeding  broad  " 
(Psa.  119  :  96). 


Gain  of  Godli7tess  5  7 


If  a  man  wants  good  health,  good  looks,  good 
temper;  if  he  seeks  pleasure,  comfort,  happiness;  if 
he  longs  for  friendship,  love,  fame;  if  he  is  a  lawyer, 
a  physician,  an  editor,  a  student,  a  teacher,  a  banker, 
a  merchant,  a  manufacturer,  a  railroad  man,  a  me- 
chanic, a  day  laborer,  or  a  gentleman  of  elegant 
leisure  (if  there  is  such  a  man) ;  in  whatever  line  he 
works,  or  strives,  or  loafs,  or  lives,  he  can  best  hope 
for  success  in  the  line  of  God's  service  and  God's 
laws, — in  practical  "godliness."  In  that  line  there  is 
good  reward ;  in  any  other  line  there  is  poor  reward. 
"  Behold,  the  righteous  shall  be  recompensed  in  the 
earth  :  much  more  the  wicked  and  the  sinner  "  (Prov. 
II  :  31).  Godliness  is  profitable  in  this  life.  Ungod- 
liness is  not  profitable  in  this  life,  even  when  it  pays 
big  dividends. 

I.  If  a  man  would  be  in  best  pJiysical  condition,  lie 
must  bring  his  body  nndcr  the  behests  of  godliness,  as  to 
self-control  and  abstinence  and  pnrity. 

"Every  man  that  striveth  for  the  mastery,"  says 
Paul,  "is  temperate  [is  self-controlled]  in  all  things  " 
(i  Cor.  9  :  25), — -puts  himself  for  the  time  being 
under  godly  restraints,  in  order  to  obtain  some 
of  the  profits  of  godliness.  Paul  said  this  to  the 
Corinthians,  who  in  his  day  had  a  special  interest  in 
athletics,  and  who  knew  all  that  was  to  be  known 
about  them.  His  statement  of  fact  is  as  true  in  our 
day  as  it  was  in  his. 

Lovers   of  indulgence   may   prate    as    they   please 


58     SJioes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

about  the  enjoyableness  and  healthfulness  of  a  glass 
of  whisky  or  wine,  or  a  mug  of  beer,  or  a  refreshing 
pipe  or  cigar,  but  if  they  were  put  in  training  for  a 
boat-race,  or  for  track  athletics,  or  for  the  highest 
feats  of  muscular  strength  and  endurance  of  nerve  in 
any  sphere,  they  would  have  to  give  up  stimulants 
and  narcotics,  and  whatever  would  tend  to  weaken  or 
defile  a  man. 

Men  who  have  made  the  training  and  development 
of  the  human  body  their  study,  and  who  have  money 
and  reputation  at  stake  on  the  condition  of  those 
whom  they  train,  insist  on  a  pure  and  abstemious  life 
for  those  whom  they  are  aiding  to  **  strive  for  the 
mastery"  in  a  coming  contest,  even  if  they  themselves 
are  slaves  to  sensualism.  The  captain  of  a  Yale  boat 
crew  met  one  of  his  oarsmen  on  the  street  while  they 
were  training  for  a  race.  *'  Joe,"  he  said,  *'  you've  got 
a  quid  of  tobacco  in  your  mouth.  That  won't  do. 
Spit  it  out.  You  can't  chew  tobacco,  and  row  in  this 
race.  We  can't  afford  to  have  you."  That  captain 
did  not  speak  as  a  puritan,  but  as  an  athlete. 

Even  keen-eyed  gamblers,  forecasting  the  issue  of 
a  prize-fight,  are  too  knowing  to  stake  their  money  on 
a  man  who  has  not  put  himself  in  "  good  condition  " 
by  practicing  in  the  ways  of  godliness  for  a  time,  so 
far  as  his  body  is  concerned,  in  regard  to  rum  and 
tobacco  and  impurity.  Foolish  boys  may  not  believe 
this,  but  wise  and  observing  men  do. 

Experience  shows  that  a  man's  best  physical  condi- 
tion is  attained  through  purity  and  uprightness — in  the 


Gain  of  Godliness  59 


realm  of  godliness.  Strength  and  good  looks  are 
prompted  by  well-doing.  Vice  scars  the  face,  and  dis- 
figures the  outer  man. 

"  Who  hath  wounds  without  cause  ?  who  hath  red- 
ness of  eyes  ?  They  that  tarry  long  at  the  wine ; 
they  that  go  to  seek  mixed  wine  "  (Prov.  23  :  29,  30). 

Not  only  red  eyes,  but  sallow  faces,  and  shrunken 
limbs,  and  failing  health,  of  older  and  younger  wrong- 
doers on  every  side,  bear  testimony  anew  to  the  truth 
of  the  inspired  declaration  that,  "  If  any  man  defile 
the  temple  of  God,  him  shall  God  destroy ;  for  the 
temple  of  God  is  holy,  which  temple  ye  are"  (i  Cor. 
3  :  17).     Godliness  is  profitable  to  man  physically. 

2.  He  zvho  zvoiild  be  in  best  intellectual  shape  has  to 
conform  to  the  i^equirevients  of  a  godly  life,  so  as  thereby 
to  secure  peace  of  mind,  a  clear  and  steady  purpose,  with 
highest  fitness  for  the  mental  duties  of  his  busy  present. 

Worry  kills  more  than  work.  All  realize  that  re- 
morse is  an  enemy  to  repose.  Proverbially,  "  a  good 
conscience  gives  a  soft  pillow."  **  But  the  wicked  are 
like  the  troubled  sea,  when  it  cannot  rest,  whose  waters 
cast  up  mire  and  dirt.  There  is  no  peace,  saith  my 
God,  to  the  wicked"  (Isa.  57  :  20,  21).  How  many 
times  have  we  seen  that  inspired  declaration  verified ! 

The  young  man  who  has  passed  his  evening  or 
night  in  dissipation  is  not  worth  as  much  in  his  studies 
or  at  his  business  the  next  day.  The  clerk  who  has 
defrauded  his  employers  cannot  fill  his  place  as  well 
as  while  he  was  yet  innocent,  even  though  he  is  not 


6o     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

suspected  of  wrong-doing.  Crime  can  be  covered  up 
from  others,  but  God  and  the  guilty  man  know  it;  and 
it  so  struggles  for  expression  that  it  tortures  the  heart 
which  is  striving  to  hold  it  in,  until  insanity  or  suicide 
is  often  a  result.  A  guilt-crippled  conscience  forbids 
the  freest  working  of  any  living  man's  intellect.  At 
the  best,  the  man  is  not  what  he  might  be,  or  what 
he  was  while  he  followed  the  more  formal  demands  of 
a  godly  life. 

The  doctor  who  will  lie  to  his  patients  loses  in  large 
measure  the  power  to  help  his  patients  by  speaking 
the  truth  convincingly.  The  merchant  or  the  clerk 
who  misrepresents  his  goods  is  not  the  best  salesman. 
If  a  knave  is  not  always  a  fool,  he  is  always  more  or 
less  foolish.  "  The  devil  always  leaves  a  pair  of  bars 
down,"  is  the  world's  adage,  in  view  of  the  sure  folly 
of  him  who  is  a  rascal.  In  no  place  is  a  thoroughly 
godless  man  a  well-balanced  man  intellectually.  He 
is  not  sure  to  do  the  best  thing  for  his  own  interest. 

As  a  politician,  he  is  liable  to  mistake  the  temper 
of  the  public  he  would  please,  especially  where  moral 
issues  are  at  stake.  As  a  speculator,  he  cannot  rightly 
read  the  signs  of  the  times,  outside  of  his  own  sphere 
of  thought  and  action.  As  a  sharper,  he  can  hardly 
fall  to  overreach  himself  in  his  plans  to  cheat  others. 
"  His  own  iniquities  shall  take  the  wicked  himself, 
and  he  shall  be  holden  with  the  cords  of  his  sin " 
(Prov.  5  :  22).  "  Righteousness  keepeth  him  that  is 
upright  in  the  way  :  but  wickedness  overthroweth  the 
sinner  "  (Prov.  13  :  6). 


Gain  of  Godlhiess  6 1 


One  of  the  biggest-brained  men  of  the  last  century 
in  the  United  States  failed  to  evidence  his  greatness, 
or  to  fill  any  place  for  which  his  intellect  fitted  him, 
simply  through  his  lack  of  that  measure  of  godli- 
ness which  would  enable  him  to  see  the  advantages 
of  a  conscience  and  the  practical  power  of  righteous- 
ness. He  was  governor  of  a  state,  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, a  cabinet  officer,  a  foreign  minister;  he  was 
nominated  for  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  ;  and  yet  he  never  commanded  a 
high  degree  of  respect.  Most  of  you  before  me  now, 
all  of  the  younger  generation,  would  not  even  recall 
his  name  if  it  were  given.  The  answer  as  to  why  he 
fell  short  of  true  greatness,  was  always,  "  He  only 
lacked  a  conscience.  He  was  without  godliness,  and 
therefore  he  was  a  failure." 

Among  the  poorest  men  on  earth  to-day, — men  who 
feel  poor,  and  whose  poverty  bears  down  on  them, — 
are  godless  men  with  large  bank  accounts  and  no 
comfort-giving  fund  of  godliness.  While  they  can 
get  whatever  money  can  buy,  they  must  lack  mental 
stimulus,  mental  nourishment,  and  mental  health, 
which  cannot  be  bought  with  money,  nor  secured  or 
retained  without  a  measure  of  godliness. 

The  richest  men  in  the  world  are  men  with  little 
money,  but  with  godly  lives  and  contented  spirits; 
for  "  godliness  with  contentment  is  great  gain " 
(i  Tim.  6  : 6).  Men  who  live  for  self  never  succeed 
in  satisfying  self,  or  in  quite  satisfying  anybody  else. 
Men  who  live  for  others,  in   Godlike  unselfishness, 


62     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


have  joy  themselves  while  giving  joy  to  others.  In 
every  sphere,  higher  or  lower,  the  man  of  ripest  cul- 
ture, and  the  man  of  smallest  mental  furnishing,  has 
no  real  profit  in  life  or  its  occupations  without  god- 
liness of  purpose  and  conduct.  And  in  every  one  of 
these  spheres,  "  godliness  is  profitable  "  to  man's  intel- 
lectual being,  in  the  life  that  now  is. 

J.  In  his  good  name  and  reputation,  as  in  his  bodily 
wholeness  and  his  mental  vigor,  a  man  is  the  gainer 
through  godliness,  through  a  life  conformed  to  God's 
laws. 

•'  A  eood  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  " — for  the 
life  that  now  is — ''  than  great  riches  "  (Prov.  22  :  i),  and 
the  only  sure  basis  of  a  good  name  is  integrity — or  god- 
liness. A  man,  young  or  old,  may  deceive  others  for  a 
time  as  to  his  real  character,  and  as  to  the  reputation  he 
ought  to  bear,  but  in  the  long  run  he  will  come  to  be 
rated  at  his  true  value. 

He  may  hide  temporarily  a  rent  in  the  fabric  of  life 
he  is  weaving,  but  the  time  must  come  when  the  piece 
is  unrolled  in  the  light,  and  all  its  imperfections  stand 
out  clearly.  "  For  there  is  nothing  covered,  that  shall 
not  be  revealed ;  neither  hid,  that  shall  not  be  known. 
Therefore,  whatsoever  ye  have  spoken  in  darkness 
shall  be  heard  in  the  light ;  and  that  which  ye  have 
spoken  in  the  ear  in  closets  shall  be  proclaimed  upon 
the  housetops"  (Luke  12  :  2,  3). 

A  good  name,  a  reputation  for  integrity  and  godli- 
ness, is  valued   not   merely  among  the  goodly,  but 


Gain  of  Godliness  63 


among  those  who  could  not  claim  it  for  themselves, 
and  who  might  not  seem  to  care  for  it  in  anybody. 
The  merchant  who  cheats  his  customers  does  not 
want  his  clerks  to  cheat  him.  A  band  of  robbers 
would  want  an  honest  treasurer. 

Boys  who  are  beginning  to  smoke,  or  drink,  or 
gamble,  or  swear,  or  go  to  vile  resorts,  would  be 
startled  if  they  knew  with  what  censure  or  contempt 
they  are  looked  down  at  by  those  whose  vices  they 
are  imitating, — they  thinking  that  they  are  only  for- 
ward or  manly.  Boys,  on  the  other  hand,  who  seem 
to  shut  themselves  off  from  good  companionship,  and 
to  be  open  to  the  charge  of  puritanical  strictness, 
might  be  encouraged  if  they  understood  how  warmly 
their  better  course  is  commended  by  those  who  do  far 
differently. 

I  recall  a  captain  in  the  army,  in  war  time, — the 
Civil  War,  I  mean, — who  was  dissolute,  foul  spoken, 
a  gambler,  a  drunkard.  He  scoffed  at  religion,  and 
reviled  its  representatives.  Yet  when  his  colonel 
asked  him  to  name  men  of  his  company  for  promo- 
tion, he  sent  into  headquarters  three  names,  saying  in 
favor  of  the  first  two  on  the  list,  that  they  did  not 
draw  their  whisky  rations  and  would  not  play  cards. 
He  could  drink  and  gamble  recklessly  himself;  but 
he  did  not  want  to  trust  the  lives  and  interests  of  a  cor- 
poral's squad  of  his  men  with  a  man  of  like  practices, 
if  he  could  find  a  purer  man  to  lead  them.  The  repu- 
tation of  godliness  is  profitable  even  among  bad  men. 

There  is  no  place  in  this  country  where  godliness — 


64     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

in  other  men — has  a  higher  market  value  than  among 
the  money-changers,  and  the  stock  and  wheat  and 
sugar  gamblers,  of  Chicago,  New  York,  and  Phila- 
delphia. One  reason  why  so  many  unprincipled  men 
go  among  money-changers,  or  apply  for  positions  of 
trust,  making  a  show  of  godliness,  and  then  stealing 
all  they  can  lay  their  hands  on,  is  because  the  reputa- 
tion of  godliness  is  valued  so  highly  both  by  the  godly 
and  by  the  godless.  Other  things  being  equal,  a  man 
can  command  a  higher  price  for  his  services  in  any 
profession,  in  any  line  of  business,  in  any  sphere  of 
influence  or  action,  if,  besides  his  special  capability  for 
the  place,  he  is  known  or  supposed  to  have  the  added 
qualification  of  godliness. 

In  view  of  this  fact,  and  of  the  truth  that  a  man's 
real  worth  is  sure  to  be  known  sooner  or  later,  it  may 
safely  be  said  that  a  man — young  or  old — never 
departs  from  the  line  of  godliness,  never  does  wrong 
wittingly,  never  lowers  his  moral  tone  or  standard, 
without  lessening  correspondingly  his  power  and  his 
reputation  for  well  doing  and  well  being  in  his  best 
sphere. 

Whatever  other  qualifications  a  man  possesses,  if 
he  be  destitute  of  godliness,  if  he  does  not  conform 
to  God's  requirements  for  everyday  conduct  in  the 
present  existence,  he  is  at  a  disadvantage  in  any 
honest  business  or  proper  profession,  alongside  of 
another  man  equally  competent  who  is  godly  ;  for  the 
inspired  declaration  of  our  text  is  reiterated  and 
freshly  verified  in  the  world's  experience  day  by  day. 


Gain  of  Godliness  65 


"  Godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise 
of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come." 

The  life  "  which  is  to  come."  "  Having  promise  of 
the  life  which  is  to  come."  It  would  be  sad  if  eodli- 
ness  gave  no  promise  for  the  life  which  is  to  come, 
but  limited  its  blessings  to  the  life  which  is. 

The  highest  rewards  of  the  best  earthly  service  are 
commonly  in  the  future.  Only  on  the  lowest  plane  of 
humanity  will  a  man  toil  merely  for  his  daily  expenses, 
hving  literally  "  from  hand  to  mouth,"  with  no  thought 
of  accumulating  profits  for  use  and  enjoyment  here- 
after. 

The  nobler  man  is  always  looking  ahead.  What- 
ever he  is  doing  now,  he  expects  to  be  doing  some- 
thing better  by  and  by.  He  confidently  counts  on  a 
steady  increase  of  his  wages,  and  acquirements,  and 
honors.  He  would,  in  fact,  be  worth  little  for  now  if 
he  did  not  have  some  hope  for  the  future.  A  youth 
is  not  content  to  be  always  the  errand  boy,  or  the 
apprentice,  or  the  farm  hand,  or  the  clerk,  or  the 
freshman.  He  hopes  to  rise,  and  to  make  progress 
continually. 

Those  places  of  business  or  of  professional  occupa- 
tion in  our  large  cities  which  are  most  sought  after  by 
enterprising  and  ambitious  young  men,  are  places 
which  proffer  little  or  no  pay  to  beginners,  but  which 
are  supposed  to  fit  those  who  learn  and  grow  for  ser- 
vice in  spheres  of  gain,  of  influence,  and  of  reputation, 
in  after  life.     That  "  which  is  to  come,"    even  in  the 


66     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

present  life,  is  always  counted,  by  the  thoughtful  and 
aspiring  man,  more  important,  better  worth  living  for, 
than  the  best  possessions  of  the  present. 

A  college  or  university  life  has  its  profit  and  ad- 
vantages to  a  student,  in  its  associations  and  com- 
panionships and  opportunities  while  he  is  still  an 
undergraduate ;  but  the  best  thing  that  a  young  man 
learns  while  he  is  an  undergraduate  is  how  to  learn  in 
higher  spheres  when  he  has  graduated.  It  is  not  the 
knowledge  itself  that  he  gets,  but  it  is  the  learning 
how  to  get  and  use  more  knowledge,  that  is  his  real 
gain.  And  this  truth  has  its  application  in  every 
phase  of  the  life  that  now  is. 

Years  ago  our  National  Sunday-school  Convention, 
which  first  arranged  for  our  system  of  International 
Bible  Lessons,  was  held  in  Indianapolis.  It  was  a 
delightful  gathering.  Before  its  adjournment,  repre- 
sentative delegates  were  invited  to  speak  closing 
words  to  those  who  for  three  days  had  enjoyed  sweet 
counsel  together.  Robert  Magill,  from  Belfast,  Ire- 
land, with  true  Irish  wit  and  keenness  said  to  us  : 

"They  say  that  this  convention  is  closing;  but  I 
think  that  it  is  just  beginning  now  that  it  is  ending; 
and  there'll  be  more  of  it  after  it's  done  with,  than 
while  it  was  going  on." 

That  is  a  truth  as  to  everything  that  is  worth  doing 
in  this  world,  or  that  is  being  done  well :  there  will  be 
more  of  it  after  it  is  done  with,  than  while  it  was 
going  on.     God  be  praised  that  this  is  so. 

To    God's  children  everywhere  the  best  is  always 


Gain  of  Godliness  6  J 

ahead.  Those  who  yield  to  the  drawings  of  God's 
love,  and  seek  to  be  conformed  to  his  image  and  to 
the  likeness  of  his  Son  in  true  godliness,  can  be  sure 
that  much  as  they  have  had  of  enjoyment  and  profit 
in  the  past,  or  now  have  in  the  present,  they  are  to 
have  more  in  the  future, — the  best  is  still  to  come. 
It  is  so  in  "  the  life  that  now  is,"  and  it  is  so  in  the 
life  "  which  is  to  come." 

Of  the  life  after  death,  every  man  has  more  or  less 
thought,  and  every  man  wants  to  receive  good  in  that 
life.  He  is  willing,  indeed,  to  say  or  to  do  some 
things  now  in  the  hope  that  it  will  yet  be  found  to 
have  been  a  profitable  investment.  There  are  few 
men  who  do  not  at  times  deny  to  themselves  some 
pleasure  or  gratification,  or  perform  some  service  for 
others,  or  make  some  gift  to  a  good  cause,  with  this 
hope  in  mind.  And  this  is,  so  far  as  it  goes,  com- 
mendable. Even  an  unjust  steward  would  have  the 
sense  to  look  ahead  for  his  own  selfish  interests,  and 
that  forethought  would  have  divine  approval  so  far. 

But  the  truth  that  men  generally  do  not  recognize, 
and  that  many  a  child  of  God  fails  to  appreciate  at  its 
fullest,  is  the  truth  declared  in  our  text,  that  the  life 
that  is  most  profitable  for  now  is  the  life  which  has 
largest  promise  for  the  hereafter.  The  life  that  is, 
and  the  life  that  is  to  be,  are  under  the  one  God — 
**  the  same  yesterday,  and  to  day,  and  for  ever  "  (Heb. 
13  :8);  and  godliness,  or  God-likeness,  or  oneness 
with  God  in  Christ,  hath  "  promise  of  the  life  that 
now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come."     There  is  but 


68     SJiocs  and  Rations  foj^  a  Long  March 


one  standard  for  us  to  conform  to  in  our  secular  and 
in  our  religious  life. 

Professor  Henry  Drummond,  who  was  familiar 
with  Christianity  and  heathenism,  and  who  had 
thought  much  of  both  the  natural  world  and  the 
spiritual,  of  the  life  that  is  and  of  that  which  is  to 
come,  said  that  even  if  he  were  satisfied  that  every 
one  of  the  heathen  would  be  saved  without  a  knowl- 
edcre  of  Christianity,  that  fact  would  not  lessen  in  the 
slightest  degree  his  personal  interest  in  the  cause  of 
Christian  missions  ;  for  he  wanted  all  the  heathen  to 
have  the  advantage  in  this  life  of  what  only  Christ 
and  Christianity  could  give  them.  He  realized  that  the 
character  and  conduct  which  gave  sure  promise  for 
the  life  that  is  to  come,  are  the  very  best — the  only 
ones  really  worth  having — for  the  life  that  now  is. 

That,  in  fact,  is  what  our  text  assures  us.  The 
course  which  has  higher  reward  in  the  life  that  now 
is,  is  the  very  course  which  has  highest  reward  in  the 
life  which  is  to  come.  If  there  were  to  be  no  life 
beyond  this,  we  could  not  do  better  here  and  now 
than  to  do  as  we  should  do  if  we  had  the  hereafter 
always  in  our  thoughts. 

I  once  knew  a  devoted  home  missionary  who  lived 
always  near  to  God,  and  who  seemed  always  happy 
in  being  with  men  and  in  doing  for  them.  The  hfe 
that  is,  and  the  life  that  is  to  come,  were  ever  together 
in  his  mind.  He  could  hardly  speak  of  one  without 
speaking  of  the  other.  As  he  came  down  from  his 
room  in  the  morning,  he  would  tell  gratefully  of  his 


Gain  of  Godliness  69 

good  night's  sleep ;  he  would  welcome  gratefully  the 
new  day;  he  would  refer  gratefully  to  his  pleasant 
surroundings  ;  and  then  he  would  say  gratefully, 
as  if  summing  all  together,  '*  All  this,  and  heaven 
besides."  That's  the  way  to  live !  that's  the  way  to 
feel! 

So  it  comes  to  pass  that  he  who  is  best  fitted  for 
the  duties  and  enjoyments  of  this  life  is  therewith  best 
fitted  for  the  duties  and  enjoyment  of  heaven.  He 
who  can  have  joy  in  the  eternal  hereafter,  has  joy  in 
every  passing  day.  He  who  is  not  a  submissive, 
trustful  child  of  God,  following  in  the  path  of  duty  in 
true  godliness,  in  true  Christ-likeness,  is  not  fully 
fitted  to  work  on  a  farm,  to  be  a  clerk,  to  do  business 
for  himself,  to  study,  to  be  married  or  to  live  single, 
or,  in  fact,  to  do  any  good  thing  anywhere  to  best 
advantage.  But  he  who  is  God's  obedient,  trustful 
child,  doing  and  being  just  what  God  would  have  him 
be  and  do,  can  be  made  most  effective  and  have  most 
joy  in  his  proper  earthly  sphere  here  and  now,  and 
he  shall  have  gladness  and  power  forevermore;  for 
"  godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise 
of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come." 


UNIVERSAL  LONGING  FOR  JESUS 


IV 
UNIVERSAL  LONGING  FOR  JESUS 

My  army-prison  life  in  Columbia,  South  Carolina, 
called  on  me  for  fresh  and  earnest  work  as  a  chaplain, 
even  with  all  its  limitations  and  drawbacks.  My  only 
book  for  study  was  my  little  pocket-Bible  ;  but  I  found 
that  Bible  more  suggestive  than  ever.  I  had  available 
no  notes  of  previous  study  to  aid  me  in  my  preach- 
ing ;  but  souls  were  there  for  whom  I  felt  responsi- 
bility, and  what  they  showed  of  their  needs  constantly 
appealed  to  me. 

I  conducted  a  service  of  worship,  with  preaching, 
every  Sunday  morning  in  our  officers'  quarters. 
Then,  by  special  permission,  I  went  out  into  the  jail- 
yard,  to  preach  to  the  army  privates  and  navy  sailors 
who  were  prisoners  there.  Standing  on  the  jail  steps, 
as  I  talked  to  the  soldiers  and  sailors  before  me  in 
the  yard,  a  Confederate  officer  stood  by  me  to  note 
my  words.  A  Confederate  soldier  also,  with  rifle 
and  fixed  bayonet,  stood  by  my  side  to  keep  me 
within  bounds.  These  things  did  not  promote  free- 
dom of  utterance  ;  yet  they  did  tend  to  intensify  my 
feeling  on  the  theme  of  my  preaching.  Talks  with 
fellow-prisoners,  officers  and  men,  about  my  subject 

73 


74     Shoes  a7id  Ratio7is  for  a  Long  March 

of  preaching,  gave  me  new  points  of  view  and  prompt- 
ings to  fresh  words.  Hence  my  Columbia  hfe  was, 
in  a  sense,  fruitful  of  sermon-themes.  I  gained  from 
it,  even  if  no  one  else  did. 

Having  preached  there  on  soul-thirst  and  its  satis- 
fying, I  was  led  to  preach  on  another  phase  of  the 
same  great  subject,  while  pointing  out  the  universal 
longing  for  that  which  only  Jesus  can  supply.  Read- 
ing the  first  chapter  of  Mark's  Gospel,  I  found  a 
passage  which  emphasized  this  truth.  That  gave  me 
a  new  sermon-theme.  After  I  was  released  from 
prison,  I  preached  again  on  that  subject  before  my 
regiment  in  St.  Augustine,  and  thus  again  and  again 
as  the  subject  grew  on  me,  and  as,  I  trust,  I  grew  in 
appreciation  of  the  important  theme. 

One  of  the  later  growths  from  that  fruitful  germ  is 
here  given. 


ALL  MEN  SEEK  JESUS 

And  when  they  Jiad  fonnd  hhn^  they  said  tmto  himy 
All  men  seek  for  thee  (Mark  i  :  37). 

"All  men  seek  for  thee!"  Seek  for  whom? 
Seek  for  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  new  Prophet  of 
Galilee,  the  mighty  Wonder-worker,  the  matchless 
Physician. 

The  son  of  Joseph,  a  carpenter  of  Nazareth,  who 
for  thirty  years  had  lived  a  quiet  and  humble  life  in 
that  Galilean  village,  suddenly,  while  away  from  his 
home,  had  been  pointed  out  by  the  greatest  prophet 
and  preacher  of  the  day  as  God's  peculiar  represen- 
tative among  men,  Israel's  Messiah,  for  whom  an  ex- 
pectant world  was  waiting.  Then,  while  men  looked 
and  wondered,  this  Jesus  began  to  preach  and  to 
teach,  and  to  do  mighty  works  of  healing  and  help- 
ing. His  fame  spread  abroad,  in  Jerusalem  and 
Judea,  and  in  Galilee  and  Samaria;  and  his  old  neigh- 
bors and  townspeople  heard  of  him  with  amazement. 
His  name  was  on  all  lips.  The  cures  wrought  by  him 
were  beyond  all  that  had  been  known  before. 

After  an  absence  for  a  season  from  his  new  home 
in  Capernaum,  Jesus  came  back  to  that  city  by  the 
sea,  and  was  seen  and  heard  in  its  synagogue  on  the 

75 


']6     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

sabbath  day.  He  spoke  with  marvelous  power.  He 
cast  out  an  unclean  spirit  from  a  man  demon-possessed. 
And  from  the  synagogue  he  went  into  the  home  of 
Peter,  and  raised  up  to  full  health  the  mother  of  his 
disciple  Peter's  wife,  by  a  touch  and  a  word.  Caper- 
naum thrilled  with  the  wonderful  stoiy  of  this  wonder- 
ful man.  "And  at  even,  when  the  sun  did  set," — 
when  the  close  of  the  sacred  day  permitted  the  neces- 
sary work  involved, — "they  brought  unto  him  all  that 
were  diseased," — in  Capernaum, — "and  them  that 
were  possessed  with  devils.  And  all  the  city  was 
gathered  together  at  the  door.  And  he  healed  many 
that  were  sick  of  divers  diseases,  and  cast  out  many 
devils"  (Mark  i  :  32-34).  When  the  night  shut  in, 
Jesus  ceased  for  a  time  his  work  of  healing,  and  sought 
in  sleep  the  rest  he  needed. 

This  ministry  of  good  to  needy  men  was  costly 
work  for  Jesus.  All  loving  service  for  God  or  man  is 
expensive  to  the  doer.  Jesus  never  gave  a  healing 
touch,  or  spoke  a  sympathizing  word,  or  looked  a 
loving  look,  without  an  outgiving  of  his  innermost 
self  in  the  act,  and  a  drain,  or  a  strain,  of  his  God- 
given  forces.  And  he  who  was  made  flesh,  in  order 
that  he  might  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our 
infirmities,  or  weaknesses,  became  wearied,  and  must 
find  refreshment  in  sleep  in  the  intervals  of  toil,  that 
he  might  gain  new  strength  for  new  works  of  love. 

While  Jesus  slept  in  his  Capernaum  resting-place, 
many  who  could  not  sleep,  for  pain  or  for  deferred 
hope,  watched  anxiously,  with  heavy  eyes  and  aching 


Universal  Lo7igi7ig  for  Jesus  77 

hearts,  for  the  coming  dawn,  when  they  might  come, 
or  be  borne,  again  into  the  presence  of  the  mighty 
Healer,  with  their  plea  to  him  for  help  and  health. 

As  for  him,  his  mission  was  not  to  them  alone,  nor 
was  it  for  the  mere  cure  of  bodily  disorders.  '*  In 
the  [early]  morning,  rising  up  a  great  while  before 
day,  he  went  out,  and  departed  into  a  solitary  place, 
and  there  prayed  "  (Mark  i  135).  Before  a  new  day 
of  toil  should  begin,  Jesus  must  have  fresh  com- 
munion with  his  Father  in  heaven,  and  gain  fresh 
strength  from  above  for  the  fresh  outgiving  of  himself 
to  others.      Therefore  he  rose  this  early  to  pray. 

Meanwhile  the  surging  crowd  of  sufferers  in  Caper- 
naum clamored  for  him  at  the  door  of  Simon.  *'  And 
Simon  and  they  that  were  with  him  followed  after 
him.  And  when  they  had  found  him,  they  said  unto 
him,  All  men  seek  for  thee." 

Did  the  disciples  of  Jesus  realize  the  truth  they 
uttered  in  that  morning  hour  in  Capernaum  ?  Do  we 
ourselves  realize  it,  in  its  magnitude  and  force,  as  we 
repeat  those  words  here  to-day  ?  **  All  men  seek  for 
thee,"  Jesus  of  Nazareth ! 

Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  Jesus  the  Christ, — the  Christ 
in  the  promise  of  whose  coming  the  first  sinning  man 
was  comforted,  and  to  whom  the  last  of  our  race 
must  still  look  as  the  only  source  of  hope ;  the  Mes- 
siah whom  the  prophets  in  all  ages  had  foretold,  and 
whose  praises  the  psalmists  had  sung  ;  the  Saviour 
whose  earthly  advent  was  the  grand  central  fact  in  the 
history  of  the   universe,   heralded   as  it    was    by  the 


yS     Shoes  a7td  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


Angel   of    the    Lord,    and    rejoiced    over   by   all   the 
**  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host." 

"  For  him  swung  back  the  starry  bound  ; 
Deepened  far  up  the  great  profound ; 
All  heaven  swept  outward  at  his  birth, 
And  naught  was  narrow  but  the  earth."  ^ 

Ah  !  It  was  truer  far  than  the  disciples  knew,  that 
all  men  were  seeking  or  were  longing  for  Jesus,  as  he 
prayed  that  morning  in  the  solitary  place  near  Caper- 
naum. All,  everywhere,  throughout  this  sin-cursed 
and  sorrow-burdened  world  ;  hearts  heavy  with  a 
sense  of  guilt  and  grief  and  sad  forebodings,  longing 
for  pardon  and  purity  and  peace,  needing  sympathy 
and  comfort  and  help,  aspiring  to  better  things,  un- 
satisfied with  what  was  already  theirs,  and  craving 
fuller,  truer  life  for  themselves  and  for  theirs ;  all,  all 
were  vainly,  vaguely  reaching  out  after  that  which 
Jesus,  and  only  Jesus,  could  meet  and  supply  ;  even 
though  the  whisper  of  his  precious  name  had  never 
fallen  on  their  ears. 

And  to-day,  as  then,  all,  everywhere,  are  seeking 
Jesus ;  not  in  every  instance  seeking  him  intelligently 
or  consciously,  but  seeking  him,  at  least  instinctively 
and  very  really,  in  that  they  have  wants  which  he 
alone  can  satisfy  ;  and  that  they  are  craving  constantly 
that  fulness  which  it  hath  pleased  the  Father  should 
dwell  in  him. 

This  is  the  truth  which  I  would  impress  upon  you 
all  to-day. 

1  Louisa  Bushnell. 


Univc7^sal  Loiigijig  for  yesus  79 

/.  Even  the  heathen,  in  distant  lands  where  no 
Christian  missionary  has  ever  preached  of  Jestis,  are 
seeking  him  to-day;  and  they  cannot  be  satisfied  zvith- 
out  him. 

Every  heart  is  human,  and  every  human  heart  is 
formed  and  framed  with  the  capacity  of  aspiration 
after  God,  and  of  the  recognition  of  his  Hkeness  when 
it  is  presented  to  them.  Jesus  was  the  Desire  of  all 
nations  before  he  was  born  in  the  manger  of  Bethle- 
hem. He  came  to  meet  an  already  existing  universal 
need.  The  wise  men  of  the  East,  who  came  seekine 
him  before  they  had  seen  him,  were  representative  of 
all  the  outside  nations  of  the  earth.  And  every 
heathen  soul,  everywhere,  is  seeking  still  the  Desire 
of  all  nations,  with  an  instinctive  longing, — as  the 
helpless  new-born  babe  seeks,  in  his  unconscious  cry, 
the  food  of  nature ;  or  as  the  parched  lips,  in  the  de- 
lirium of  fever,  seek  the  cool  water  that  the  wander- 
ing intellect  cannot  ask  for. 

They  are  seeking  him  in  that  they  need  him,  and 
that  they  crave  the  results  of  his  redemption.  Their 
every  breath  of  spiritual  want  is  really  a  soul-aspira- 
tion after  oneness  with  him  in  whom  "  dwelleth  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily  "  (Col.  2  :  9).  God 
be  praised,  that  man,  created  in  his  Maker's  likeness, 
has  not,  even  in  his  ruin,  lost  utterly  a  yearning  for 
restored  communion  with  the  divine  Father  through 
his  only  begotten  Son  ! 

Even  human  love  and  sympathy  and  help  are 
sought  by  those  who  never  knew  them.      If  you  have 


8o     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

ever  visited  among  the  outcast,  or  have  been  much  in 
the  rescue  homes  of  the  slums  when  new  Httle  ones 
were  brought  in  there,  you  have  seen  no  sight  sadder 
than  that  of  neglected  children,  with  pinched  faces, 
dull  eyes,  and  shrinking  frames,  who  have  never  seen 
a  look  of  love,  nor  heard  a  word  of  tenderness,  nor 
felt  a  kindly  touch  ;  but  who,  with  all  their  heavy,  ach- 
ing hearts,  are  longing  for  that  which  they  have 
never  yet  experienced. 

I  can  never  forget  the  incident  which  first  impressed 
this  truth  upon  my  soul.  It  was  more  than  fifty  years 
ago.  I  was  in  a  city  mission  school  as  a  visitor.  The 
school  was  in  a  dingy  garret,  in  an  old  building  by 
the  riverside.  A  few  teachers,  and  a  score  or  so  of 
ragged  boys  and  girls  from  the  wretched  homes  of 
the  wretched  neighborhood,  were  gathered  there. 
As  I  sat,  looking  on  with  curiosity  and  wonder, — for 
such  a  sight  was  new  to  me, — I  saw  a  boy,  all  by 
himself  in  a  corner,  more  wretched  looking,  if  possi- 
ble, than  any  of  his  fellows.  Dirty,  ragged,  dull  and 
heavy,  he  seemed  scarcely  human.  His  face  was 
badly  swollen,  as  from  an  inflamed  tooth,  so  as  to 
twist  his  eyes  out  of  shape  ;  and  he  sat  listlessly, 
taking  no  note  of  what  was  going  on. 

As  I  watched  hmi,  he  was  trying  clumsily  to  adjust 
about  his  face  a  ragged,  filthy  bandage  that  had  fallen 
from  its  place.  Touched  with  pity,  I  stepped  across 
the  room,  and  taking  the  bandage  from  his  hands, 
with  a  kindly  word  to  him,  I  folded  it  anew,  passed  it 
about  his  swollen  cheek,   and  fastened  it  above  his 


Universal  Longing  for  yesus  8 1 

head.  As,  with  another  expression  of  sympathy,  I 
took  away  my  hands,  that  Httle  fellow  turned  up  his 
distorted  face  to  mine  with  a  look  I  had  never  seen 
the  like  of  before,  but  having  once  seen,  I  could  never 
forget. 

It  was  a  look  of  surprise  and  wonder,  and  half  jo}^ 
half  question,  as  if  a  result  of  an  utterly  new  experi- 
ence in  his  weary  young  life.  It  seemed  to  say, 
"What  is  all  this?  No  hand  was  ever  before  laid  on 
me  except  in  roughness  or  anger.  I  have  learned  to 
shrink  and  groan  and  suffer  ;  but  until  now  I  have 
never  known  a  touch  of  tenderness  or  sympathy.  Yet 
how  good  it  is  !  This,  I  suppose,  is  what  I've  been 
longing  for." 

That  one  look  was  everything  to  me.  It  helped  to 
shape  my  new  life-course.  And  it  was  the  means  of 
that  boy's  saving.  Jesus  had  sent  me  there  to  do 
just  that,  and  the  boy  was  thus  helped  to  find  the 
Saviour  he  had  before  been  seeking  unconsciously. 
I  have  never  doubted  since  then  that  every  needy 
soul  is  seeking  Jesus. 

Look  at  the  forms  of  the  world's  religions,  outside 
of  Christianity,  to-day.  Every  one  of  them  shows  a 
seeking  after  that  which  Jesus  gives,  while  no  one 
of  them  proffers  a  substitute  for  him  as  a  Saviour. 
Brahmanism  emphasizes  the  spirituality  of  God,  but 
it  shows  no  method  of  approach  to  the  primal  Source 
of  all  good.  Boodhism  teaches  the  wretchedness 
of  sin-cursed  man,  but  it  knows  no  possibility  of 
his  redemption.      Zoroastrianism  tells   of  a  ceaseless 


82     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


conflict  between  good  and  evil,  but  it  points  to  no 
spiritual  helper  of  man  in  his  struggle.  Confucianism 
presents  the  primal  perfection  of  man  as  an  ideal  of 
aspiration,  but  it  leaves  man  to  toil  on  toward  this 
ideal  unaided  and  hopeless.  So  on  through  all  the 
fal.^e  or  faulty  religions,  ruder  or  more  refined.  Every 
outpouring  of  blood  in  sacrifice  to  idol  or  to  fetish  is 
the  proffer  of  substitute  life,  and  the  expression  of  a 
longing  for  a  common  life  with  Deity  ;  and  every  pil- 
grimage, or  penance,  or  act  of  devotion  in  any  form, 
is  another  indication  of  the  human  soul's  outreaching 
for  that  peace  which  is  found  in  Christ,  and  nowhere 
else  in  the  universe. 

Oh,  the  cravings  of  heathen  humanity  for  that  which 
Jesus  proffers  to  all  the  world  to-day !  Oh,  the 
**groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered"  (Rom.  8  :  26) 
in  heathen  hearts  groping  in  darkness  after  him  who 
''  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light "  (2  Tim.  I  :  lo) 
in  his  gospel  !  God  hasten  the  glad  day  when  to 
Jesus  shall  be  given  'nhe  heathen  for"  an  ''inherit- 
ance, and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for"  a 
"possession"  (Psa.  2:8);  when  ''all  the  ends  of  the 
earth"  will  look  to  him  as  the  Saviour,  and  "be  satis- 
fied ..  .  with"  his  "likeness"  (Psa.  17  :  15).  What 
are  we  doing  to  bring  that  day's  dawn  ? 

2.  Meanwhile,  not  only  the  heathen,  bnt  all  who  in 
Christian  lands  are  without  Christ,  or  who  are  not  in 
Christ,  are  seeking  him. 

If  the  heathen  who  have  never  heard  of  Jesus  are 


Universal  Longing  for  Jesus  83 


his  seekers,  much  more  are  they,  in  any  land,  who 
have  known  of  what  he  proffers,  and  who  have  seen 
the  influence  of  his  hfe  in  the  words  and  ways  of  his 
followers.  Every  man  wants  moral  wdioleness,  and 
knows  that  he  lacks  it.  None  stand  complete  except 
in  Jesus  (Col.  2  :  10).  Those  who  would  be  whole, 
are  really  seekers  after  him  who  alone  can  make  them 
so.  They  may  conceal  their  seeking  from  others; 
they  may  even  refuse  to  admit  it  to  themselves ;  but 
because  their  hearts  are  human,  their  hearts  need,  and 
at  times  long  after,  fulness  and  peace  and  rest  in 
Christ. 

Ah  !  if  all  breasts  were  open  to  the  gaze  of  all,  it 
would  be  seen  that  many  a  seemingly  placid  bosom 
covers  a  troubled  conscience  and  an  aching  heart,  and 
that  many  a  soul  supposed  to  be  unconcerned,  and  at 
ease  in  a  Christless  life,  is  in  a  restless  turmoil  of  im- 
pulse and  indecision.  Some  of  you  who  hear  me 
now  know  how  my  words  fit  your  own  case,  even 
though  your  seat-mate  has  no  thought  of  this. 

Said  a  soldier  to  me,  as  we  talked  together  of  his 
soul's  welfare  in  my  tent  before  Richmond  in  war- 
time :  *'  I'm  a  very  strange  man,  Chaplain  !  Now  that 
I'm  talking  with  you,  I  realize  the  truth  of  all  you 
say,  and  I'm  not  a  hypocrite  in  agreeing  to  it  all. 

*'  But  I'll  go  out  from  your  tent,  and  it'll  not  be  an 
hour  before  I've  forgotten  all  about  this  talk,  and  am 
just  as  wicked  and  as  wild  as  ever.  And  I'll  not 
think  of  religion  again  until,  perhaps,  I'm  on  guard 
some  night.      Then,  when  I'm  all  by  myself,  and  the 


84     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

camp  is  quiet,  as  I'm  pacing  back  and  forth  on  my 
beat,  it  will  all  come  over  me  again,  and  I'll  see  just 
what  a  sinner  I  am,  and  how  like  a  fool  I've  acted ; 
and  I'll  resolve  that,  if  only  I  live  until  morning,  I'll 
be  a  very  different  man.  And  I'll  think  that  way 
until  the  'relief  comes  'round,  and  I  go  to  the  guard 
quarters  again. 

"And  then,  will  you  beheve  it,  Chaplain?  it'll  not 
be  five  minutes  before  I'm  swearing  or  scoffing  as  if 
I'd  never  had  a  serious  thought  in  my  life.  O  Chap- 
lain !  I'm  a  very  strange  man,  sir ;  a  very  strange  man." 

Was  that  man,  after  all,  so  very  strange  and 
singular?  Did  you  never  know  anything  like  that 
in  another  man's  experience? 

There  are,  it  is  true,  some  persons  who  fail  to  re- 
cognize, or  who  refuse  to  admit,  the  outreaching  of 
their  souls  for  Jesus,  until  they  are  in  direst  peril  or 
distress.      But  they  are  seekers  then,  if  not  before. 

*' Do  you  ever  pray,  my  friend?"  I  asked  of  a 
wounded  soldier  in  the  prison  hospital  in  Charleston. 
"Sometimes,  Chaplain,"  he  answered.  "I  prayed 
last  Saturday  night,  when  we  were  in  that  fight  at 
Wagner.      I  guess  everybody  prayed  then.'' 

Yes,    everybody    prays    at    one    time    or    another. 

"  O  thou  that  hearest  prayer,  unto  thee  shall  all  flesh 

come," — if  not  in  hope   and  faith,  then  in  fear  and 

despair. 

"  '  There  is  no  God,'  the  foolish  saith, 
But  none  '  There  is  no  sorrow,' 
And  nature  oft  the  cry  of  faith 
In  bitter  need  will  borrow  : 


Universal  Lo7iging  for  yesus  85 


Eyes,  which  the  preacher  could  not  school, 

By  wayside  graves  are  raised, 
And  lips  say  '  God  be  pitiful,' 

Who  ne'er  said  '  God  be  praised.' 

Be  pitiful,  OGod!"» 

Sooner  or  later,  my  friend  still  out  of  Christ,  your 
voice  will  be  raised  to  Jesus,  in  faith  or  in  fear,  and 
you  will  admit  that  he  is  the  Saviour  you  seek.  God 
grant  that  your  prayer  may  not  come  too  late ! 

J.  Those,  also,  who  have  known  Jesns,  a? id  zvho 
have  felt  the  sweet  influence  of  his  loving  presence,  de- 
sire a  closer  union  with  him  ;  and  so  are  still  his  seekers. 

True  love  increases,  not  lessens,  with  intimacy. 
None  seek  more  earnestly  in  love  than  they  who  know 
most  of  the  joys  of  loving  companionship.  Many  of 
those  who  were  seeking  Jesus,  in  that  morning  hour 
in  Capernaum,  had  seen  and  heard  him  the  day  before, 
and  therefore  sought  him  again.  He  who  remembers 
precious  interviews  with  Jesus,  longs  for  others  like 
them. 

You  who  have,  at  any  time,  known  the  comfort  of 
a  sense  of  the  presence  of  Jesus  in  your  hearts,  and 
have  rested  for  a  single  hour  in  his  love,  cannot  be 
contented  if  you  are  for  an  hour  without  such  peace. 
You  are  seekers  after  its  renewal.  You  who  have 
loved  him  longest  and  most,  are  most  desirous  of  utter 
oneness  of  life  with  him.  The  more  you  love  him, 
the  more  you  want  to  love  him  more. 

There  are  no  such  seekers  after  Jesus  as  those  who 

1  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning. 


86     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


have   already  found    him.     The    constant   prayer   of 
every  such  seeker  is : 

"  More  love  to  thee,  O  Christ, 

More  love  to  thee  ! 
Hear  thou  the  prayer  I  make, 

On  bended  knee ; 
This  is  my  earnest  plea, 
More  love,  O  Christ,  to  thee. 

More  love  to  thee  !  "  ^ 

If  only  the  seeking  after  Jesus  were  as  earnest  and 
hearty  as  it  is  widespread  and  ceaseless,  more  would 
have  success  in  their  finding,  whether  they  have  known 
much  of  him  or  little.  "  Ye  shall  seek  me,  and  find 
me,"  is  the  promise,  ''when  ye  shall  search  for  me 
with  all  your  heart"  (Jer.  29  :  13). 

''With  all  your  heart"  !  Do  you  know  what  that 
means  ?  Let  me  tell  you.  A  soldier  who  had  been 
long  in  Southern  prisons  called  at  my  home  after  the 
war.  I  had  met  him  first  while  we  were  prisoners  in 
Charleston  jail.  Afterwards  we  were  together  in  the 
jail  at  Columbia.  He  had  gone  to  Belle  Island. 
Three  years  had  passed ;  and  now,  as  we  met  once 
more,  I  asked  him  of  his  later  prison  experiences. 

"  I  don't  remember  much  about  it,  Chaplain,"  he 
said,  "only  that  I  wanted  bread.  I  know  it  was 
twenty- three  months  after  my  capture  before  I  was 
released  ;  but  after  I  left  Columbia  it  is  all  confused 
in  my  mind.  I  know  I  was  at  Belle  Island  awhile, 
and  a  long  time  at  Andersonville. 

^  Mrs.  E.  P.  Prentiss. 


Universal  Longing  for  Jesus  87 


"  How  hungry  I  was  at  Andersonville  !  For  awhile 
I  used  to  want  to  hear  from  home.  Then  I  grew  so 
hungry  that  I  didn't  think  of  home.  For  awhile  I 
wanted  to  escape.  But  by  and  by  I  was  too  hungiy 
to  care  for  that.  I  only  wanted  bread,  bread,  bread. 
Oh,  how  hungry  I  was ;  and  how  I  longed  for  bread !" 

That,  my  friends,  was  longing  for  bread  ''with  all 
the  heart," — with  one  supreme,  overmastering  desire. 
Home  and  friends,  and  liberty  and  life,  lost  sight  of, 
thought  of,  in  the  ceaseless  craving  for  needful  food  ! 
Blessed  are  they  who  do  thus  hunger  after  the  Bread 
of  Life  in  Jesus  Christ;  *'for  they  shall  be  filled" 
(Matt.  5  :  6). 

And  now,  my  fellow-disciples,  in  view  of  this  truth 
that  all  are  seeking  Jesus,  in  heathen  lands  and  in 
Christian  lands,  what  is  our  duty,  what  is  our  responsi- 
bility, as  to  bringing  a  knowledge  of  Jesus  to  those 
who  are  his  seekers,  and  as  to  urging  his  claims  upon 
their  love  and  confidence  ?  Have  we  nothing  to  do 
in  carrying  the  gospel  story  to  lands  where  it  is  yet 
untold,  but  where  its  truths  are  longed  for  ? 

"  Shall  we,  whose  souls  are  lighted 
With  wisdom  from  on  high, 
Shall  we  to  men  benighted 
The  lamp  of  hfe  deny  ?  "  ^ 

Is  it  of  no  concern  to  us  that  some  who  are  by  our 
sides  are  far  away  from  Jesus,  yet  are  wishing  to  be 
near  him  ?  Shall  we  refuse  them  our  help,  in  word 
or  deed,  because  they  have  never  asked  our  aid  ? 

1  Bishop  Heber's  Missionary  Hymn. 


88     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


Suppose  that  just  here  and  now,  while  I  am  preach- 
ing in  this  pulpit,  one  were  to  rise  up  in  this  congre- 
gation, and  cry  out,  piteously,  "  Sirs,  what  must  I  do 
to  be  saved?  "  would  any  of  us  sit  unconcernedly  with 
that  call  ringing  in  our  ears  ?  Would  not  all  of  us  be 
quick  to  proffer  help  or  counsel  ?  I  knew  of  an  oc- 
currence of  this  very  kind. 

It  was  at  the  mid-week  prayer-meeting  of  a  church 
in  a  New  England  town.  It  was  an  ordinary  meet- 
ing, and  there  were  ordinary  prayers  and  ordinary 
talks  being  made.  Suddenly  a  man  rose  up  in  the 
back  part  of  the  room,  who  had  just  slipped  in  from 
the  street  and  taken  his  seat  there.  In  a  voice  quiver- 
ing with  emotion,  and  tense  with  agony  of  spirit,  he 
spoke  out :  "  My  friends  !  you  all  know  me.  I  am  a 
moral  wreck.  A  few  minutes  ago  I  was  out  in  the 
darkness,  proposing  to  put  an  end  to  this  wretched 
life  of  mine.  But  I  saw  the  light  in  here,  and  I  said 
to  myself.  Cannot  the  Saviour,  to  whom  they  are  pray- 
ing in  there,  save  even  me  ?  So  I  came  in  ;  and  now 
I  ask  you  to  pray  for  me.  I  am  a  lost  sinner.  Can 
you  help  me  to  the  Saviour?" 

The  speaker  was  a  man  who  had  stood  high  in  his 
profession,  and  in  the  respect  of  the  community,  but 
who  had  gone  down  step  by  step,  through  the  habit  of 
drink,  until  he  was  an  object  of  general  pity.  And 
now  his  agonized  cry,  "I  am  a  lost  sinner.  Can  you 
help  me  to  the  Saviour?  "  pierced  every  heart  in  that 
room. 

There  were   no   longer    any    ordinary    prayers,    or 


Universal  Longing  for  yesus  89 

ordinary  talks  in  tJiat  prayer-meeting  that  evening. 
One  after  another,  men  rose  up  to  pray  with  and  for 
that  man,  as  if  their  heart  depths  were  being  poured 
out  to  Jesus.  And  then  those  disciples  of  the  Saviour 
gathered  about  that  poor  sinner,  to  speak  tender  and 
earnest  words  of  encouragement  and  guidance,  and 
they  fairly  lifted  him  up  to  Jesus  on  the  arms  of  their 
love  and  faith.  Yet  that  man's  need  was  just  as  great 
before  he  cried  out  for  help  as  afterward.  Why  did 
they  wait  for  him  to  tell  them  so  ? 

The  duty  of  discerning  an  obvious  need  is  as  posi- 
tive as  the  duty  of  supplying  a  need  when  it  is  made 
known.  It  is  an  Oriental  saying  that  *'  It  is  to  our 
shame  if  a  beggar  has  to  ask  our  help,"  for  we  ought 
to  see  his  need  and  meet  it  before  he  speaks  of  it. 
Peculiarly  is  this  true  of  the  need  of  needs  of  the 
human  soul  for  Jesus.  When  we  understand  that  all 
are  seeking  him,  we  ought  to  be  helping  all  to  find 
him,  without  being  asked  by  them  to  do  so. 

Passing  up  Broadway  one  day,  I  saw  a  group 
rapidly  gathering  at  a  street  corner.  Pushing  my  way 
into  the  growing  throng,  I  saw  a  bright-faced  child, 
not  above  five  or  six  years  old.  He  was  well-dressed, 
and  gave  eveiy  appearance  of  belonging  to  a  home 
of  refinement.  The  little  fellow  had  been  seen  tod- 
dling along,  all  alone,  in  the  busy  street,  and  had  at- 
tracted attention  as  a  lost  child.  Quickly  a  group  had 
gathered  about  him  in  loving  interest. 

As  I  looked  down  upon  the  boy  in  tender  sym- 
pathy, he  turned  up  his  face  to  mine  with  an  expres- 


90     Shoes  and  Rations  Jor  a  Long  Maj^ch 

sion  of  confidence  and  longing,  and  reaching  out  his 
tiny  hand  toward  me,  he  said,  in  a  gentle,  plaintive 
voice,  "  Please,  won't  you  show  me  my  way  home?  " 
Instantly  that  child-like  cry  for  help  went  to  the  heart 
of  every  looker-on,  and  I  doubt  if  there  was  a  busy 
man  in  all  that  city  throng — certainly  not  a  father 
there — who  wouldn't  have  dropped  everything  just 
then  to  help  that  lost  child  homeward. 

Yet  that  lost  child  was  just  as  surely  seeking  his 
father's  house  when  his  tired  feet  were  pattering  along 
the  crowded  way,  himself  unnoticed  in  the  hurr>ang 
throng,  as  when  his  thrilling  call  for  help  came  up  in- 
to the  ears  of  those  who  stood  about  him  at  the  street 
corner  ;  and  one  who  had  stopped  to  care  for  the 
child  before  a  word  was  spoken,  would  have  deserved 
more  credit  than  us  all. 

There  are  many  of  these  lost  children  seeking  their 
Father's  house,  in  the  busy  way  we  travel.  Let  us 
show  them  the  way  home ! 


A  SEED  SERMON 


V 

A  SEED  SERMON 

My  only  life  as  a  "  settled  "  pastor  was  at  St.  Augus- 
tine, where  I  joined  my  regiment  after  my  release 
from  Libby  Prison.  Not  only  my  regiment  was  there, 
but  another  regiment  of  my  brigade  ;  the  convalescent 
camp  for  officers  of  the  entire  Department  of  the 
South  was  there;  teachers  of  the  "  freedmen  "  were 
there,  and  some  prominent  civilians  from  the  North  ; 
and  there  was  quite  a  population  of  St.  Augustine 
natives  remaining, — making  in  all  a  considerable  popu- 
lation to  be  cared  for  religiously.  I  was  the  only 
Protestant  clergyman  in  the  city,  as  the  pastors  of  the 
local  Protestant  churches  had  gone  into  the  interior 
on  the  approach  of  the  Union  forces.  In  this  state 
of  things,  the  military  authorities  placed  the  Protestant 
churches  at  my  disposal,  and  I  did  the  best  I  could  to 
meet  the  existing  needs. 

We  had  church  services  both  morning  and  evening. 
We  had  a  Sunday-school  in  the  afternoon,  and  there 
were  meetings  to  be  looked  after  at  different  hours  in 
the  gathering  places  of  the  newly-emancipated  freed- 
men.  We  had  also  mid-week  prayer-meetings,  and 
we  had  at  times  special  services,  including  the  celebra- 

93 


94     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

tion  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  That  was  a  portion  of  my 
life  that  I  hope  I  profited  by.  My  opportunities  were 
certainly  rich  and  important. 

One  of  the  subjects  that  we  really  had  to  consider 
was  the  absolute  certainty  of  reaping  according  to  the 
sowing.  Both  in  the  North  and  in  the  South,  among 
'the  whites  and  the  blacks,  there  was  being  gathered  a 
harvest  that  had  been  long  before  sowed  for.  And  in 
the  fields  of  both  good  and  evil  there  was  seed  being 
sown  before  my  eyes  continually,  beyond  the  realiza- 
tion or  thought  of  the  sowers.  Therefore  a  theme 
that  for  the  time  impressed  me,  and  that  I  sought  to 
impress  on  those  of  my  charge,  was  the  certainty  of 
reaping  what  one  has  sown. 

I  wrote  and  preached  a  sermon  on  that  subject,  and 
the  subject  and  sermon  proved  to  be  a  germ  for  future 
growth.  I  repeated  it  in  various  forms  in  different 
fields  of  army  life.  After  the  war  I  preached  on 
the  subject  in  civil  life,  especially  before  the  young  in 
boarding-schools  and  colleges  near  and  far.  One 
phase  of  that  preaching  is  here  given.  It  is  a  good 
thought  for  to-day. 


SEED-SOWING  AND  GROWING 

Be  not  deceived ;  God  is  not  mocked:  for  zuhatsocvcr 
a  man  sozveth,  that  shall  he  also  reap   (Gal.  6  :  7). 

Only  God  is  never  mocked,  never  deceived,  never 
misled  by  appearances.  We  can  deceive  others.  We 
can  deceive  ourselves.      But  we  cannot  deceive  God. 

Self-deception  is,  in  fact,  a  great  deal  commoner, 
and  a  great  deal  easier,  than  self-knowledge.  Who 
of  us  can  say  that  he  is  perfectly  clear  and  plain  to 
himself?  that  concerning  himself  he  cannot  be  de- 
ceived ? 

"  What  am  I,  and  how  ?     If  reply  there  be, 

In  unsearchable  chaos  'tis  cast. 
Though  the  soaring  spirit  of  restless  man 
Might  the  boundary  line  of  the  universe  scan, 
And  measure  and  map  its  measureless  plan,— 

The  gift  of  self-knowledge  were  last !  "  ^ 

Moreover,  it  is  a  great  deal  commoner,  and  a  great 
deal  easier,  for  us  to  deceive  our  fellows  than  it  is  for 
us  to  disclose  ourselves  to  our  fellows. 

No  human  being  ever  fully  understood  another 
human  being.  Parents  cannot  read  the  hearts  of 
their  own  children.      Husbands  and  wives  can  be  one 

1  Frances  Ridley  Havergal. 

95 


g6     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Lojig  March 

in  everything  else  rather  than  in  an  inter-knowledge 
of  each  other's  hearts.  Brothers  and  sisters  are,  at 
the  closest,  strangers  to  the  real  inner  selves  of  their 
brothers  and  sisters.  And  the  best  of  human  friends, 
in  spite  of  all  their  love  and  longing,  often  misunder- 
stand and  are  misunderstood  by  one  another,  some- 
times in  the  vo-xy  things  and  at  the  very  points  where 
most  they  strive  after  an  absolute  revealing. 

"  We  hold  our  dear  ones  with  a  firm,  strong  grasp  ; 
We  hear  their  voices,  look  into  their  eyes; 
And  yet,  betwixt  us  in  that  clinging  clasp, 
A  distance  lies."  ^ 

"  The  heart  knoweth  his  own  bitterness ;  and  a 
stranger  doth  not  intermeddle  with  his  joy"  (Prov. 
14  :  10).  "Walls  of  adamant,'  says  one,  "could 
not  more  effectually  separate  us  from  direct  spiritual 
communing  than  the  state  in  which  God  has  created 
us."  He,  therefore,  who  boasts  that  he  can  read  his 
fellows  through  and  through,  shows  how  thoroughly 
he  is  deceived  in  this  supposing  that  he  cannot  be 
deceived.  Only  He  who  made  the  heart  of  man 
knows  the  heart  of  man,  and  needeth  not  that  any 
should  testify  of  man,  because  he  knows  what  is  in 
man,  and  what  man  is  (John  2  :  24,  25). 

So  "  God  is  not  mocked,"  is  not  deceived.  He 
knows  the  work  of  his  own  hands  :  "  Neither  is  there 
any  creature  that  is  not  manifest  in  his  sight  :  but 
all  things  are  naked  and  opened  unto  the  eyes  of 
him  with    whom    we    have    to    do"    (Heb.   4   :    13). 

1  Elinor  Gray. 


A  Seed  Sermon  97 


"The  Lord  seeth  not  as  man  seeth  ;  for  man  looketh 
on  the  outward  appearance,  but  the  Lord  looketh  on 
the  heart"  (i  Sam.  16  :  7).  And  just  in  proportion 
as  the  All-knowing  One  discloses  his  knowledge  of 
his  creatures  to  his  creatures,  do  any  of  his  creatures 
know  their  fellows  or  know  themselves.  "The  secret 
things  belong  unto  the  Lord  our  God  :  but  those 
things  which  are  revealed  belong  unto  us  and  to  our 
children  for  ever"   (Deut.  29  :  29). 

Our  text  gives  us  the  key  to  most  of  our  knowledge 
of  all  that  breathes  or  lives.  God,  who  is  never  de- 
ceived, wills  that  the  inner  being  of  his  creatures  shall 
be  shown  outwardly  in  the  reproduction  after  its  kind, 
of  every  sentient  being,  and  living  thing,  and  vital 
thought,  in  nature.  "  Ye  shall  know  them  by  their 
fruits"  (Matt.  7  :  16).  "Whatsoever  a  man  soweth, 
that  shall  he  also  reap."  The  fruit  that  is  proves  the 
seed  that  was. 

From  the  beginning  this  has  been  God's  law.  At 
the  creation,  "  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth 
grass,  the  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the  fruit  tree  yield- 
ing fruit  after  his  kind,  whose  seed  is  in  itself,  upon 
the  earth  :  .  .  .  the  living  creature  after  his  kind,  cattle, 
and  creeping  thing,  and  beast  of  the  earth  after  his 
kind:  and  it  was  so"  (Gen.  i  :  11,  24).  And  so  it 
has  been,  and  still  is.  "  Can  the  fig  tree,  my  brethren, 
bear  olive  berries ?  either  a  vine,  figs?"  (J as.  3  :  12.) 
"  Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles? 
Even  so  eveiy  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit ;  but  a 
corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit"  (Matt.  7  :  16,  17). 


98     Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

The  appearance  of  a  tree  may  deceive  the  eye  ; 
but  its  fruit  will  prove  its  quality  and  inner  life  beyond 
a  question.  Many  might  mistake  the  leaf  and  the 
flower  of  the  bitter  orange  for  those  of  the  sweet 
orange  ;  but  no  one  would  mistake  the  fruit  of  the 
one  for  the  other,  in  their  tasting.  Roasted  peas 
have  been  palmed  off  for  coffee  in  the  grocery  store 
and  in  the  boarding-house,  but  what  manipulation 
would  make  a  planted  pea  bring  forth  a  Java  coffee 
bush  ?  There  is  a  kind  of  darnel,  or  rye  grass,  called 
by  the  botanists  lolmni  murbmni,  or  "mouse-rye," 
because  it  so  counterfeits  the  real  grain  that  the  very 
mice  are  deceived  by  it.  But  would  a  kernel  of  that, 
in  the  richest  soil,  ever  produce  the  other  ?  No  ! 
Mice  or  men  may  be  deceived,  but  "  God  is  not 
mocked." 

God  orders  nature  in  all  her  processes,  and  con- 
forms her  to  his  eternal  laws.  ''Whatsoever  [seed]  a 
man  soweth,  that  [and  that  alone,  stalk  and  leaf,  and 
flower  and  fruit,  each  after  its  kind]  shall  he  also 
reap." 

As  in  the  lower  forms  of  animate  life,  so  also  in  the 
higher.  As  in  matter,  so  in  mind.  Elements  of 
taste,  peculiarities  of  temper,  habits  of  thought  and 
word  and  conduct,  are  all  of  them  germinal  and  repro- 
ductive, bringing  forth  in  their  development  ever 
after  their  kind;  ''first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after 
that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear"  (Mark  4  :  28). 

The  boy  Galileo,  studying  the  theoiy  of  the  spin- 
ning-tops his  playfellows  were  whipping  on  the  school- 


A  Seed  Sermon  99 


grounds,  was  sowing  the  seeds  of  philosophical  dis- 
covery he  later  reaped  so  richly.  David  Wilkie, 
sketching  before  he  could  read,  and  beginning  to  paint 
before  he  could  spell,  drawing  his  schoolmates'  por- 
traits for  two  marbles  or  an  apple  each  ;  James  Fer- 
guson, as  a  shepherd's  boy,  on  his  back  in  the  open 
field  by  night,  measuring  the  distances  between  stars 
on  a  string  of  beads  ;  Napoleon,  wakening  the  echoes 
of  the  Corsican  grotto  with  the  explosions  of  his  toy 
cannon  ;  and  Garfield,  drinking  in  a  love  of  country 
and  a  longing  for  high  achievement  from  the  rude 
ballads  of  the  war  of  1 8 1 2,  sung  to  him  by  his  dear 
old  mother  in  his  childhood's  border  home  ;  all  of 
these  were  sowing  seeds  of  taste  and  acquirement  and 
action,  to  bring  forth  fruit  in  due  season,  each  **  after 

his  kind." 

Fairy  tales,  read  with  wonderment  and  delight  in 
early  childhood,  color,  through  their  reproduction,  the 
adult  imagination,  often  with  reference  to  ordinary 
home  life  or  social  relations  ;  while  the  ghost  stories 
heard  in  the  nurseiy,  or  in  the  kitchen,  are  seeds  of 
terror  and  superstition  which  are  fruitful  in  later  life, 
even  in  minds  well  stored  and  cultivated  otherwise. 
And  so  the  whole  field  of  the  intellect  is  filled  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  law  of  sowing  and  growing. 

Similarly,  also,  the  soul  is  supplied.  Moral  quali- 
ties have  germs, — germs  which  bring  forth  fruit,  each 
after  its  kind.  Our  first  parents  sowed,  in  Eden,  for 
the  race,  the  seeds  of  unbelief  and  disobedience  when 
they   distrusted    God's    word  and   violated  his  com- 


I  oo  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

mand ;  and  in  the  hearts  of  all  their  descendants  the 
fruit  of  that  sowing  is  manifest  to-day.  Timothy,  the 
youthful  bishop,  showed  in  his  "faith  unfeigned"  (i 
Tim.  I  :  5),  and  in  his  other  fitness  for  the  great  work 
assigned  him,  how  carefully  good  seed  was  sown  in 
his  heart  **  from  a  child"  (2  Tim.  3  :  15),  when  he 
learned  the  lessons  of  Holy  Scripture  from  the  lips 
and  lives  of  mother  and  grandmother, — lessons  of 
obedience  and  fidelity  and  faith.  And  so  it  has  been 
ever  since. 

"A  wonderful  thing  is  a  seed! 

The  one  thing  deathless  forever, — 

The  one  thing  changeless,  utterly  true, 

Forever  old,  and  forever  new, 
And  fickle  and  faithless  never. 

"Plant  blessings,  and  blessings  will  blow; 

Plant  hate,  and  hate  will  grow. 
You  can  sow  to-day ;  to-morrow  shall  bring 
The  blossom  that  proves  what  sort  of  thing 

Is  the  seed,  the  seed  that  you  sow." 

''Be  not  deceived,"  nor  think  you  can  deceive 
God.  "God  is  not  mocked — for  whatsoever  a  man 
soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 

The  fruit  of  sown  seed  will  ever  be  reaped  in  ki)id, 
but  not  in  degree,  with  its  planting.  The  botanist 
Ray  counted  2,000  grains  of  Indian  corn  on  a  plant 
sprung  from  one  seed  ;  4,000  seeds  on  one  plant  of 
sunflower;  32,000  seeds  on  a  single  poppy  plant,  and 
36,000  seeds  on  one  plant  of  tobacco. 

You  will  notice  in  this  exhibit  that  the   meaner  the 


A  Seed  Sermon  loi 


stock  the  bigger  the  crop.  Tobacco  propagates 
eighteen  times  as  fast  as  Indian  corn.  That  is  the 
way  of  the  world — as  the  world  is.  And  here  is  an 
added  reason  why  we  should  look  well  to  the  seed 
planted. 

It  has  been  shown  that,  at  the  rate  of  multiplica- 
tion evidenced  of  a  single  bean,  the  third  year's 
growth  of  a  bean  would  amount  to  nearly  43,000,000 
bushels  ;  and  that  in  eight  years  as  much  corn  might 
spring  from  one  seed  as  would  supply  all  mankind 
with  bread  for  a  year  and  a  half 

The  planted  acorn  springs  up,  not  a  single  acorn, 
but  an  oak,  which  shall  bear  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand  acorns,  and  still  the  end  is  not.  The  *'  hand- 
ful of  corn  in  the  earth  upon  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tains "  is  multiplied  until  ''  the  fruit  thereof  shall  shake 
like  Lebanon"  (Psa.  72  :  16);  and  the  bread  cast  upon 
the  waters  (Eccl.  11  :  i)  is  found  after  many  days,  not 
as  it  was  scattered,  **  bare  grain  "  (i  Cor.  i  5  :  37)>  but 
in  the  waving  expanses  of  vast  fields  of  golden  ears. 

In  the  mental  and  moral  spheres,  likewise,  the  fruit, 
in  thought  and  act,  is  in  many-folded  reproduction  of 
that  which  in  kind  was  sown.  As  it  has  been  said  : 
**  Sow  an  act,  and  you  reap  a  habit ;  sow  a  habit,  and 
you  reap  a  character  ;  sow  a  character,  and  you  reap 
a  destiny." 

"The  lad  puffing  at  a  bit  of  lighted  rattan  or  twisted 
paper,  in  imitation  of  the  genteel  smoker,  is  sowing 
seed  which  is  in  hai^vest  when  the  strong  man  with 
sodden   brain   and  disordered   digestion,  or  with  can- 


I02   Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


cered  lips,  is,  in  the  sight  of  all  eyes  but  his  own,  the 
slave  unto  death  of  his  love  of  tobacco.  The  little 
fellow  W'ho  just  a  few  times  plays  marbles  "  for  keeps," 
or  the  youth  who  occasionally  invests  in  a  raffle  at  a 
church  fair,  sow^s  seed  \vhich  finds  fruitage  when  the 
excited  gambler  stakes  his  wrecked  fortune,  his  char- 
acter, and  his  very  soul,  on  the  throw  of  the  dice  or 
the  turn  of  the  cards,  in  his  last   hopeless  venture  of 

chance. 

Seed-planting  and  harvest  stand  over  against  each 
other  in  the  boy  who  shows  meanness  in  dividing  a 
school  lunch,  or  in  refusing  the  use  of  his  bat,  or  sled, 
or  bicycle  to  his  playfellow,  and  the  close-fisted  miser 
whose  heart  is  shut  against  eveiy  call  of  the  needy 
for  help  or  sympathy  ;  in  the  child  at  the  family  din- 
ner, sipping  claret  or  home-made  wane  (such  home- 
made wine  as  made  Noah  so  disgracefully  drunken) 
(Gen.  9  :  20,  21),  and  the  hopeless  sot  on  his  way, 
through  the  gutter,  to  the  drunkard's  grave  and  hell ; 
in  the  free  use  of  boyish  slang,  and  the  impious  utter- 
ances of  the  blasphemer  ;  in  the  first  over-stepping 
the  bounds  of  modesty,  and  the  terrible  end  of  the 
libertine  or  prostitute  ;  in  the  early  neglect  of  God's 
house  and  word,  with  jokes  over  sacred  themes,  and 
the  gloomy  lot  of  the  dark-browed  infidel. 

Oh  !  there  is  a  world  of  truth  in  one  of  the  blunt 
satirical  suggestions  of  a  slang-writer  of  our  day  : 
"  Boys,  if  you  want  a  sure  crop,  and  a  big  yield,  sow 
wild  oats!"' 

ijosh  Billings. 


A  Seed  Sermon  103 


He  who  soweth  the  wind  "shall  reap  the  whirl- 
wind "  (Hos.  8  :  7).  The  buried  dragon's  teeth  in 
the  fable  sprang  up  not  teeth  merely,  but  armed  men 
ready  for  the  fight  So  of  every  element  of  evil  in 
the  soul, — the  reproduction  in  augmented  force  and 
reach  is  as  sure  as  is  its  reappearance  after  its  kind. 

The  boy  Nero,  of  such  native  gentleness  that  he 
sheds  tears  over  the  sufferings  of  insect  life  (and  even 
at  the  last  he  has  an  unknown  friend  to  strew  flowers 
on  his  bloody  grave),  has  seed  of  blackest  crime  sown 
in  his  heart  by  his  mother's  guilty  example.  He  is 
but  seventeen  when  she  murders  her  husband,  his 
father  ;  and  so  rapidly  does  that  seed  of  crime  fructify, 
that  only  five  years  later  he  foully  murders  that 
mother,  whom  he  once  loved  with  tenderness,  and  he 
is  yet  but  twenty-seven  when  he  fiddles  over  burning 
Rome,  and  lights  up  his  palace  garden  with  the  blazing 
bodies  of  living  Christians. 

And  lovely  traits  grow,  as  do  those  which  are  ab- 
horred, although  the  native  soil  of  the  human  heart 
is  less  favorable  to  these,  and  they  require  more  care 
in  their  cultivation. 

Love  for  a  good  mother — grateful,  tender,  trustful 
love — planted  in  a  son's  heart  when  his  mother  is  all 
the  world  to  him,  and  he  sits  by  her  knee,  having 
never  known  doubt  of  the  pure  and  the  good,  nor  ex- 
perienced the  world's  cold  selfishness,  is  the  germ  of 
love  to  others,  and  of  confidence  in  the  better  instincts 
of  his  fellows'  hearts ;  or  it  may  even  be  the  germ  of 
belief  in  his  mother's  religion,— to  bring  forth  duly  in 


1 04  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Lo7ig  March 

precious  fruitage.  Said  Richard  Cecil,  of  his  coldest 
days  of  unbelief:  "There  was  one  argument  I  could 
never  get  over, — the  influence  and  life  of  a  godly 
mother."  And  that  one  good  seed  retained  its  vital 
power  through  years  of  seeming  death,  even  as  the 
grains  of  wheat,  enwrapped  in  the  cerements  of  the 
mummy,  have  been  said  to  germinate  and  bear  fruit 
after  thirty  centuries  in  the  tombs  of  Egypt. 

Two  centuries  and  more  ago,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Isis,  a  seed  of  love  for  truth,  and  of  devotion  to  con- 
science, and  of  adherence  to  honest  dealings  with 
and  to  peaceful  measures  toward  all  men,  and  of  un- 
compromising fidelity  to  religious  freedom,  was  sown 
by  a  Quaker  preacher  in  the  mind  of  a  gay  and  pleas- 
ure-loving English  youth,  at  that  time  a  student  in 
Oxford  University.  Twenty  years  later  that  youth 
was  in  the  American  wilderness,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Delaware,  broadcasting  the  fruitage  of  that  seed  ; 
and  to-day  our  City  of  Brotherly  Love,  in  its  pride  and 
beauty  and  far-reaching  influence,  and  our  mighty 
commonwealth,  with  its  matchless  record  of  unham- 
pered civil  and  religious  liberty  during  the  now  com- 
pleted two  centuries  of  its  history,  are  but  the  begin- 
nings of  the  endless  harvest  of  that  single  grain  of 
good.  ^ 

To-day  we  joy  in  the  product  of  that  planting  by 
William  Penn,  when  in  toil  and  in  prayer  for  us  and 
for  ours  his  heart-cry  was  :  **  And  thou,  Philadelphia, 
the  virgin  settlement  of  this  province,  named   before 

^  This  sermon  was  preached  on  Philadelphia's  Bi-Centennial  celebration. 


A  Seed  Sermon  105 


thou  wert  born, — what  love,  what  care,  what  service, 
and  what  travail  has  there  been  to  bring  thee  forth, 
and  preserve  thee  from  such  as  would  abuse  and 
defile  thee  !  My  soul  prays  to  God  for  thee,  that 
thou  may'st  stand  in  the  day  of  trial,  that  thy  children 
may  be  blessed  of  the  Lord,  and  thy  people  saved  by 
his  power."  ^ 

And  here  in  the  home  of  William  Penn,  the  same 
law  of  seed-planting  and  harvest-bearing  is  still  oper- 
ative, in  lesser  things  as  in  larger ;  and  that  which 
seems  least  at  the  start  may  show  itself  large  in  its 
results. 

The  little  girl,  tending  carefully  her  doll,  watching 
over  it  in  its  imaginaiy  illness,  and  keeping  its  every 
tiny  article  of  dress  in  neatness  and  repair,  is  sowing 
the  seeds  of  motherly  gentleness  and  devotion,  and 
of  matronly  skill  and  efficiency,  to  bear  abundant 
harvest  in  another  home  circle  in  the  coming  years. 
And  the  child  in  the  Sunday-school,  encouraged  to 
deny  itself  some  craved  luxury  to  aid  a  missionary  in 
the  home  or  foreign  field,  or  the  group  of  little  folks 
planning  ways  and  means  of  securing  help  to  a  needy 
family,  will  be  likely  to  exhibit  the  fruit  of  such  seed- 
sowing  in  an  enlarged  interest  in  benevolent  opera- 
tions of  every  kind  for  God's  glory  and  man's  welfare 
when  childhood's  day  are  over. 

"  The  secret  is  deeper  than  we  can  read, — 
But  we  gather  the  grain  if  we  sow  the  seed."  "^ 

''  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  ///<^/ shall  he  also  reap." 

1  William  Penn,  1684.  "^  Lucy  Larcum. 


1 06  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

It  shall  bring  forth  fruit  abundantly,  "  some  thirty- 
fold,  some  sixty,  and  some  a  hundred  "  (Mark  4  :  20). 

Think  of  this,  you  who  oversee  the  young, — parent, 
teacher,  friend, — in  its  bearings  on  the  future  of  those 
given  into  your  charge  ! 

When  you  note  in  them  the  beginnings  of  evil, — 
indolence,  irresolution,  selfishness,  ill-nature,  disobedi- 
ence, impurity,  irreverence,  sinful  indulgence  of  any 
kind, — do  not  look  upon  these  things  as  faults  seen 
already  at  their  worst,  and  which  must  be  accepted  as 
the  inevitable  flaws  and  failures  of  poor  human  na- 
ture ;  but  realize  that  they  are  poisonous  germs,  with 
life  and  propagative  power,  to  multiply  and  increase 
after  their  kinds,  to  gain  steadily  in  strength  and 
reach,  to  take  a  new  hold  in  new  places  daily,  even 
as  the  branches  of  the  banyan  dip  to  earth  to  root 
themselves  anew,  and  thus  to  cause  the  outstretching 
limbs  to  cover  and  contain  the  whole  plain,  in  the 
centre  of  which  the  tree  stood  solitary  and  compact 
at  first. 

Unless  you  would  welcome  the  harvest  from  these 
seeds  of  evil,  you  should  spare  no  pains  and  spurn  no 
help  in  the  time  of  seed-sowirg.  Do  not  think  that 
"  boys  must  be  boys,"  and  that  "■  girls  must  be  girls," 
in  the  sense  that  every  boy  must  be  permitted  to  have 
the  ways  of  bad  boys,  or  that  every  girl  must  be  tol- 
erated in  the  follies  of  thoughtless  and  ill-trained 
girls.  Nor  count  it  probable  that  a  crop  of  evil  habits 
will  run  themselves  out  of  a  young  person's  heart- 
soil.      "Wild  oats  "  and  "Canada  tHistles  "  never  run 


A  Seed  Sermon  107 


out.      Everything  in  nature  tends  to  their  nurture  and 
development. 

Whether  you  desire  the  harvest  or  not,  your  chil- 
dren are  sowing  for  one. 

"  Ah  !  some  are  sowing  the  seeds  of  pain, 
Of  late  remorse,  and  a  maddened  brain  ; 
And  the  stars  shall  fall,  and  the  sun  shall  wane, 
Ere  they  root  the  weeds  from  their  soil  again. 
Dark  will  the  harvest  be  !  " 

And  when  you,  young  man  or  young  woman, — or 
man  or  woman  of  any  age, — are  tempted  to  depart 
from  the  right  in  the  smallest  matter,  or  to  begin  a 
course  you  would  dislike  as  a  fixed  habit,  understand 
that  in  such  departure  or  such  beginning  a  seed  is 
planted  which  will  many-fold  itself,  and  then  must  be 
reaped. 

You  may  spend  only  a  trifle  more  than  you  earn  ; 
may  waste  only  a  few  hours  daily  in  idling  ;  may  de- 
fraud only  a  railroad  company  or  other  rich  corpora- 
tion, and  that  only  in  a  v^ry  small  amount ;  may  be 
dishonest  or  untruthful  in  only  one  of  a  hundred  petty 
ways  which  the  world  winks  at ;  may  violate  the  law 
of  purity  only  in  what  seems  hardly  worth  noting  ; 
may  deceive  or  wrong  only  a  child  ;  may  break  only 
the  least  of  God's  commandments,  and  teach  men  so, — 
and  in  all  this  you  may  give  no  occasion  for  public 
scandal.  Can  any  great  harm  come  from  this  ?  Ah  ! 
my  friend,  **  Be  not  deceived  ;  God  is  not  mocked  : 
for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 

"That  shall  he  also  reap  !  "      Mark  that,  will  you  ? 


1 08  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Lo7ig  March 

Every  man  must  reap  his  own  crop.  Not  only  shall 
the  seed  grow  and  multiply,  but  the  fruit  shall  be 
gathered  by  him  who  planted  the  seed.  "Who  plant- 
eth  a  vineyard,  and  eateth  not  of  the  fruit  thereof?  " 
(i  Cor.  9:7.)  "  The  recompense  of  a  man's  hands 
shall  be  rendered  unto  ///;;/"  (Prov.  12  :  14).  "To 
him  thatsoweth  righteousness  shall  be  a  sure  reward  " 
(Prov.  II  :  18).  And  "  He  that  soweth  iniquity  shall 
reap  vanity"  (Prov.  22  :  8). 

The  seed  once  sown,  and  the  crop  follows.  Regret 
for  the  sowing  will  not  avert  the  necessity  of  reaping. 
When  the  tares  are  rooted,  they  will  grow  with  the 
wheat  "until  the  harvest"  (Matt.  13  :  30).  Not  until 
those  tares  have  been  gathered  in,  can  they  be  burned 
from  sight  forever. 

Esau,  having  profanely  bartered  his  high  birthright 
for  a  mess  of  pottage,  afterward,  when  he  bewailed 
his  folly,  and  would  fain  have  secured  a  reversal  of 
the  consequences,  "found  no  place  of  repentance," — 
no  place  of  such  repentance  as  would  restore  him  his 
lost  possession, — "  though  he  sought  it  carefully  with 
tears  "  (Heb.   12:  17).      He  had  sown.      He  must  reap. 

David  was  bitterly  sorrowful  over  his  double  crime 
against  Uriah ;  but  the  sword  he  had  taken  to  cut  off 
a  trusting  and  devoted  follower  never  departed  from 
his  house  while  he  lived.  He  was  a  man  of  blood 
and  a  sufferer  from  treachery  thenceforward  until  his 
death  (2  Sam.  12:9-13).  The  crop  he  sowed  for 
must  be  reaped,  even  though  its  sowing  was  repented 
of  and  forgiven. 


A  Seed  Ser7non  1 09 


So  always.  Forgiven  sins  have  their  earthly  fruit- 
age. Regeneration  does  not  give  a  man  a  new  eye, 
or  a  new  arm,  if  he  has  lost  one  through  some  early 
trangression.  Nor  does  it  restore  to  him  the  primitive 
delicacy  of  tastes  he  has  perverted,  and  the  pristine 
vigor  of  moral  senses  he  has  blunted. 

Says  quaint  and  godly  old  Thomas  Fuller  :  *'  Lord, 
how  come  wicked  thoughts  to  perplex  me  in  my 
prayers,  when  I  desire  and  endeavor  only  to  attend 
thy  service  ?  Now,  1  perceive  the  cause  thereof;  at 
other  times  I  have  willingly  entertained  them,  and 
now  they  entertain  themselves  against  my  will.  I 
acknowledge  thy  justice,  that  what  formerly  I  have 
invited,  now  I  cannot  expel. 

"  Give  me,  hereafter,  always  to  bolt  out  such  ill- 
guests.  The  best  way  to  be  rid  of  such  thoughts  in 
my  prayers,  is  not  to  receive  them  out  of  my  prayers." 
Or,  in  other  words,  the  better  way  to  avoid  such  reap- 
ing is  to  change  the  style  of  sowing. 

Lord,  deliver  us  from  tares  and  their  accursed  crop  ! 
Lord,  keep  us  from  sowing  that  which  we  wish  not  to 
reap  !  The  daily  struggles  of  some  of  God's  dear  chil- 
dren with  habits  of  thought  and  modes  of  speech  and 
impulses  of  action,  fastened  on  them  in  days  of  bit- 
terly-repented misdoing,  can  never  be  conceived  by 
those  who  were  spared  the  sorry  sowing  of  seeds  of 
flesh  and  folly. 

Nor  does  the  harvest  of  character  end  with  the  life 
that  now  is.  There  is  no  sccd-soiving  beyond  the 
grave,   but  the   sheaves  of  earth's   fields    are    finally 


no  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

stored  in  the  garners  of  eternity.  '*  For  we  must  all 
appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ;  that  every 
one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his  body,  accord- 
ing to  that  he  hath  done  [in  the  seed-sowing  line], 
whether  it  be  good  or  bad  "  (2  Cor.  5  :  10). 

Follow  men,  if  you  will,  down  through  their  earthly 
lives,  and  note  the  signs  of  the  coming  harvest  as 
they  approach  eternity's  verge,  if  you  would  see 
whether  or  not  their  experiences  tend,  invariably,  to 
the  confirmation  of  this  explicit  and  unqualified  dec- 
laration of  the  word  of  God. 

Nothing  is  reaped  in  eternity  but  was  sowed  for 
in  time.  And  a  dying  man  is  no  more  likely  than 
a  man  in  full  health  to  begin  good  seed-sowing.  If 
the  voice  of  God  were  to  sound  audibly  in  this  house 
this  evening,  saying,  "  In  one  hour  from  now,  every 
soul  here  must  stand  at  my  Judgment  Bar,"  I  believe 
that  few  if  any  of  you  who  are  nov/  unprepared  for 
eternity  would  be  ready  at  the  hour's  close.  You 
would  doubtless  pray  for  a  good  harvest  ;  but  would 
you  plant  for  it?  If  you  think  you  would  do  good 
planting  then,  wJiy  not  7ioiv  ? 

I  have  stood  by  very  many  dying  men,  my  friends, 
— not  merely  men  dying  of  disease,  so  that  their  hold 
on  life  was  relaxed  almost  imperceptibly,  but  in  my 
army  chaplaincy  I  stood  by  men  dropping  out  of 
full  health  with  mortal  wounds,  or  men  brought  in 
unabated  vigor  to  kneel  by  their  open  graves,  face  to 
face  with  their  military  executioners, — but  I  never  yet 
saw  in  any  dying  man's  experience  any  seeming  con- 


A  Seed  Sermon  1 1 1 


tradiction  of  God's  law  of  germ  and  growth  and 
product  in  the  soul. 

Ten  times  I  have  been  with  men  going  out  to  be 
shot  or  hanged  for  crime.  Surely  if  any  external 
circumstances  could  change  a  man's  character,  it 
would  be  when  the  hour  of  his  death  was  fixed,  and 
a  limited  season  was  given  him  to  prepare  for  eter- 
nity. If  ever  he  would  show  love  for  a  better  crop 
than  that  of  his  planting,  it  would  be  in  such  an 
emergency.  But  I  have  found  men  at  a  time  like 
this  giving  plainest  evidence  of  the  harvest  for  which 
they  had  long  been  sowing. 

Serious  they  all  were,  and  ready  to  look  the  future 
in  the  face.  Some  were  in  an  agony  of  remorse,  and 
cried  out  in  bitterness  of  soul  at  the  thought  of  what 
was  before  them.  But,  mark  you,  praying  against  a 
harvest  is  not  in  itself  planting  for  one.  Some  who 
tried  to  devote  themselves  to  preparations  for  eternity, 
showed,  in  spite  of  their  best  efforts,  more  real  inter- 
est in  what  they  were  to  eat  and  drink  at  their  last 
meal  on  earth  than  in  the  whole  plan  of  salvation. 
They  could  even  bring  themselves  to  believe — nov/ 
that  die  they  must — that  without  any  new  seed-sowing 
they  would  have  another  harvest  than  the  one  for 
which  they  had  so  long  been  making  ready.  They 
could  deceive  themselves,  but  God  was  not  mocked  ; 
that  which  they  had  sown,  they  were  now  to  reap. 

My  first  experience  with  a  man  who  was  to  be 
hanged  impressed  this  truth  on  me.  It  was  a  soldier 
who  had  killed  a  comrade  in  cold  blood.      On  the  day 


1 1 2   Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


of  his  execution  I  was  with  him  in  the  provost-mar- 
shal's quarters  in  a  Virginia  camp,  seeking  to  prepare 
him  for  death.  He  was  to  start  out  for  the  gallows  at 
two  o'clock.  At  about  twelve  a  soldier  of  his  com- 
pany brought  him  his  noon  rations  for  the  day.  As 
the  man  entered  the  tent  with  the  food,  I  was  kneel- 
ing in  prayer  with  the  condemned  man.  At  the  in- 
terruption he  looked  up,  and,  seeing  the  food,  he  was 
at  once  interested.  Enjoyment  in  prayer  he  had  not 
sown  for,  but  a  love  of  eating  and  drinking  he  had 
been  sowing  for  all  his  life.  Running  his  eye  over 
the  things  brought  in,  he  said,  in  a  tone  of  disap- 
pointment : 

"Can't  I  have  some  cheese?     I  had   some   cheese 
yesterday." 

His  comrade,  seemingly  shocked  at  this  interest  in 
such  a  matter  on  the  verge  of  eternity,  replied  : 

*'  I  suppose  I  can  get  you  some  cheese,"  and  he 
hurried  off  after  it.  When  it  was  brought,  the  con- 
demned man  took  the  cheese  and  the  pork  and  the 
bread,  and  his  tin  cup  of  coffee,  and  in  his  last  hours 
on  earth  he  seemed  to  have  as  much  interest  in  this 
latest  reaping  of  his  life-harvest  as  ever  before. 
When  every  morsel  of  his  rations  was  eaten  he  wiped 
the  pork  grease  from  his  lips  with  his  coat  sleeve,  and 
then  turned  to  me  and  said  : 

"  Now   I'm   ready  for   you,  Chaplain,  to  pray  with 


me  again." 


Yet,  when  the  guard   came   to   escort  him  to  the 
gallows,  he  added  in  evident  sincerity  : 


A  Seed  Sermon  1 1 3 


"  I  wish  they'd  give  me  a  swig  o'  whisky,  to  brace 
me  before  they  trice  me  up." 

Could  there  be  any  doubt  as  to  what  that  man  had 
sowed,  and  of  which  he  was  now  to  reap  the  hai-vest  ? 
"  Be  not  deceived  ;  God  is  not  mocked  :  for  whatso- 
ever a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 

This  truth  of  our  text,  my  friends,  is  God's  truth, 
and  a  terrible  truth  it  is  to  the  sinner !  What  hope  is 
there  in  it — or  out  of  it — to  you  and  to  me  ?  We 
have  done  some  sorry  seed-sowing  in  our  day.  Must 
we  reap  the  harvest  accordingly  ?     Who,  then,  can  be 

saved  ? 

Ah  !  there  is  an  earthly  seed-sowing  that  brings  a 
heavenly  harvest.  Good  seed — seeds  of  love  and 
obedience  and  trust — planted  in  the  blood-moistened 
earth  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  can  start  a  vine  which 
shall  twine  its  tendrils  around  that  cross,  and  find  its 
way  up  and  up,  until  it  reaches  through  the  clouds, 
to  bear  precious  fruit  before  the  Throne  eternally. 

The  choice  is  between  that  seed-sowing  and  all 
others.  **  He  that  soweth  to  his  flesh  " — he  whose 
deeds  of  good  and  ill  are  of  the  flesh  and  for  the 
flesh,  limited  in  their  plan  to  himself  and  to  his  fel- 
lows and  to  the  life  that  now  is — '*  shall  of  the  flesh 
reap  corruption  ;  but  he  that  soweth  to  the  Spirit" — 
whose  heart-soil  is  softened  and  opened  and  sown  by 
the  Holy  Spirit— "  shall  of  the  Spirit  "—by  the  Holy 
Spirit's  power — "reap  life  everlasting"   (Gal.  6  :  8). 

''The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long- 
suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  tem- 


1 14  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


perance  :  against  such  there  is  no  law"  (Gal.  5  : 
22,  23),  and  to  such  there  is  no  end,  no  death. 
He  who  brings  to  the  final  harvest  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit,  by  faith,  has  thenceforward  freedom  from  the 
tares  and  weeds  which  grew  with  the  good  fruit  until 
that  harvest. 

"  Sower  Divine  ! 

Sow  the  good  seed  in  me ; 

Seed  for  eternity. 

'Tis  a  rough,  barren  soil, 

Yet,  by  thy  care  and  toil, 

Make  it  a  fruitful  field, 

An  hundredfold  to  yield. 
Sower  Divine, 
Plough  up  this  heart  of  mine !  "^ 

1  Horatius  Bonar. 


CHARACTER  SURELY  DISCLOSED 


VI 

CHARACTER  SURELY  DISCLOSED 

After  my  regiment  came  back  from  Appomattox 
Court  House  at  the  collapse  of  the  Confederacy, 
we  were  for  several  months  stationed  a  short  distance 
above  Richmond,  engaged  in  duties  incident  to  the 
close  of  the  long  war.  And  then  there  were  trying 
phases  of  army  life.  Of  course,  it  was  more  difficult 
to  keep  up  a  high  standard  of  zeal  or  morals  or  cour- 
asre  amone  either  officers  or  men.  The  moral  stand- 
ard  is  generally  higher  among  soldiers  in  active 
service  than  among  civilians  in  the  community  from 
which  the  soldiers  have  come ;  but  when  the  neces- 
sity for  active  service  ceases  among  soldiers,  it  is  a 
different  matter. 

With  an  inevitable  letting  down  of  the  strictest  dis- 
cipline inside  the  camp,  there  was  an  absence  of  such 
pressure  from  enemies  outside  as  existed  in  war-time, 
and  outside  temptations  to  officers  and  men  were 
greatly  increased.  In  consequence  the  breaches  of 
morality  multiplied.  Yet  nominally  there  was  the 
same  strictness  as  to  presences  and  absences,  and  as 
to  keeping  within  specified  bounds,  and  as  to  the 
necessity  of  having  permission  to  leave  camp  at  any 

117 


1 1 8  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

time,  as  when  we  were  before  the  enemy.  The  in- 
creasing demoralization  was  a  cause  of  regret  to  mc, 
and  I  knew  it  was  my  duty  to  do  what  I  could  to 
check  it,  and  to  change  the  tone  and  current  in  the 
regiment. 

I  found  that  not  unnaturally  in  our  camp,  as  else- 
where, it  was  generally  felt  to  be  more  of  a  mistake 
to  be  found  out  in  a  breach  of  discipline  or  any  mis- 
demeanor, than  to  do  a  similar  wrong  that  was  con- 
cealed. Therefore,  among  other  sermons  at  that  time, 
I  preached  one  on  the  sure  uncovering  of  character, 
or  the  certainty  of  wrong-doing  being  ultimately 
found  out.  Among  incidental  illustrations  of  my 
theme  I  gave  this  : 

"An  officer  may  slip  unobserved  through  the  guard- 
line  in  the  darkness  of  a  rainy  evening,  and  go  into 
town  for  a  *  good  time.'  When  his  *  good  time '  is 
over  for  the  night,  he  may,  in  coming  back,  slip  again 
through  the  guard-line  and  get  into  his  tent  without 
being  seen.  As  he  then  sinks  into  his  late  and  heavy 
slumber,  he  may  congratulate  himself  on  having  done 
all  this  without  any  one  in  camp  knowing  about  it. 
But  when  the  sergeant  of  the  guard  comes  to  his  tent 
the  middle  of  the  next  forenoon  with  a  message,  and 
finds  that  officer  sound  asleep  on  the  outside  of  his 
bed  with  his  muddy  boots  on,  the  whole  company 
may  soon  be  talking  about  his  performances,  which 
he  congratulated  himself  had  been  done  so  slyly." 

As  other  possibilities  in  this  line  were  given  in  that 
sermon  by  way  of  wholly  hypothetical  illustration,  it 


Character  Surely  Disclosed  1 1 9 

became  a  subject  of  not  a  little  discussion  in  the  camp, 
among  officers  and  men,  which  I  think  was  not  wholly- 
unprofitable.  And  this  subject  of  the  sure  uncover- 
ing of  character,  as  treated  from  the  same  text,  became 
one  of  my  life  treasures  and  means  of  usefulness.  I 
re -wrote  sermons  on  that  theme,  again  and  again,  and 
preached  them  in  various  parts  of  the  country ;  and  I 
had  evidence  that  God  blessed  that  preaching  to  the 
good  of  souls. 

In  visiting  a  well-known  family-school  in  New  Eng- 
land, I  preached,  in  the  church  which  the  boys  of  that 
school  attended,  this  sermon  as  newly  adapted  in  its 
illustrations  and  warnings  to  hearers  of  that  sort. 
Among  those  boys  was  one  of  exceptional  ability  and 
of  a  family  of  national  prominence.  He  had  given 
his  parents  and  teachers  much  concern  by  his  course, 
and  there  was  at  that  time  danger  of  his  being  dis- 
missed from  that  school  on  account  of  his  undesirable 
influence  over  other  boys,  although  he  had  not  yet 
been  informed  of  that  fact.  He  was  so  influenced  by 
that  sermon  that  he  desired  to  have  a  conversation 
with  me  on  the  subject,  and  of  course  I  was  glad  to 
talk  with  him. 

As  we  talked,  he  said  frankly :  "  It's  the  first  time  I 
was  ever  really  frightened  about  myself  I  have 
always  counted  on  covering  my  tracks,  and  not  being 
found  out  in  my  misdoings.  But  you've  shown  me 
that  I've  got,  in  the  long  run,  to  be  known  as  I  am. 
Now  I  want  to  be  a  different  man."  That  was  a  good 
starting-point  for  any  boy.     I  tried  to  help  him.     He 


1 20  Shoes  and  Ratiojis  for  a  Long  March 


was  soon  on  another  path.  He  became  an  earnest 
and  useful  clergyman.  When,  some  years  after  this, 
I  heard  him  preach  in  a  prominent  pulpit  in  the  city 
where  I  then  lived,  I  was  glad  to  remember  that  long- 
ago  talk  with  him.  At  the  close  of  the  service  at 
which  he  preached,  he  greeted  me  heartily,  and  said 
warmly  that  it  was  because  of  my  sermon  which  so 
took  hold  of  him,  that  he  was  in  the  ministry. 

Perhaps  of  no  sermon  that  I  ever  preached  have  I 
had  so  many  evidences  of  its  hold  on  hearers  as  this 
one,  on  the  sure  uncovering  of  character.  And  I 
have  had  reason  to  be  grateful  that  in  our  camp  before 
Richmond,  in  the  spring  of  1865,  I  was  moved  to 
preach  on  the  subject. 


KNOWN  AS  WE  REALLY  ARE 

Beware  ye  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees^  which  is 
hypocrisy.  For  there  is  nothing  covered,  that  shall  not 
be  revealed ;  neither  hid,  that  shall  not  be  known  (Luke 
12  :  I,  2). 

The  leaven  is  that  within  the  mass  which  puffs  it 
up,  and  gives  it  show  of  bulk  beyond  its  substance. 
Leaven  acts  only  by  fermentation, — adding  nothing 
to  the  mass,  but  merely  swelling  it.  The  working  of 
leaven  is  often  more  effective  than  its  material  is 
choice.  It  may  be  bitter  hops,  or  sour  dough,  which 
lighten  and  expand  the  most  comely  and  attractive 
loaf 

Hence  the  fitness  of  our  Saviour's  figure  in  the 
text.  The  Pharisees  had  the  fairest  exterior  of  all 
the  Jewish  sects.  Closely  attentive  to  religious  cere- 
monials, and  conspicuous  in  prayer  and  almsgiving, 
they  claimed  confidently — and  with  an  appearance  of 
reason — a  superiority  to  their  co-religionists.  Yet 
they  made  a  show  of  godliness  not  justified  by  their 
spiritual  life. 

And  when  Jesus  of  Nazareth — giving  prominence, 
as  always,  to  the  making  clean  of  the  inner  rather 
than  the  outer  man — had,  on  a  certain  occasion,  disre- 

121 


12  2  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

garded  one  of  their  traditional  washings,  he  found  his 
personal  rectitude  called  in  question  by  a  Pharisee. 

It  was  then,  "  when  there  were  gathered  together 
an  innumerable  multitude  of  people,  insomuch  that 
they  trode  one  upon  another," — Pharisees  and  the 
common  herd  commingled, — that  our  Lord  "began 
to  say  unto  his  disciples  first  of  all.  Beware  ye  of  the 
leaven  of  the  Pharisees,  which  is  hypocrisy."  As 
though  he  w^ould  say,  "  These  fair-favored,  open- 
mouthed,  self-asserting  religionists,  with  their  swell- 
ing words  of  proud  profession,  are  inflated  with  an 
element  I  would  have  you  shun.  Whatever  ex- 
terior you  may  present  to  the  world,  see  to  it  that 
your  reputation  is  otherwise  gained  than  by  such 
assumptions  as  distend  their  being."  "  Beware  ye  of 
the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees,  which  is  hypocrisy." 

And  when  Jesus  stigmatized  the  inner  life  of  the 
Pharisees  as  "  hypocrisy,"  he  gave  to  it  the  most 
obnoxious  of  all  names ;  for  there  is  no  other  charge 
from  the  reproach  of  which  men  shrink  like  hypocrisy. 
It  would  be  easier,  in  one  of  our  great  prison-houses, 
to  find  five  confessing  murderers  than  to  find  one 
avowed  hypocrite.  "  I  know  that  I  am  bad ;  but 
I'm  not  a  hypocrite ! "  is  the  cry  of  the  vilest  trans- 
gressor. 

Yet  hypocrisy  is  a  very  common  sin, — more  com- 
mon than  murder,  or  than  even  theft  or  bald  lying. 
There  have  been  more  hypocrites  preaching  and  hear- 
ing the  gospel  to-day  than  of  any  other  class  of  evil- 
doers.    And  if  this  roof  above  us  covers  no  hypocrite 


Character  Surely  Disclosed  123 

this  evening,  it  is  above  a  very  rare  assemblage  of 
miscellaneous  church-goers. 

What  is  hypocrisy  ?  It  is  "  a  feigning  to  be  what 
one  is  not,"  "  a  concealment  of  one's  real  character 
or  motives."  Every  man  who  thus  feigns,  or  thus 
conceals,  is  a  hypocrite.  A  man  may,  it  is  true,  feign 
other  than  his  real  cniotions^  or  conceal  many  of  his 
actions,  without  hypocrisy ;  for  he  has  a  right  to  the 
privacies  of  his  personal  and  family  and  business  life 
— within  due  bounds  ;  and  he  is  under  no  obligation 
to  show  at  all  times  how  he  feels,  or  to  tell  to  others 
what  he  has  been  doing.  But  if  he  assumes  a  charac- 
ter which  is  not  his  own,  or  feigns  to  be  another  kind 
of  man  than  he  is,  or  conceals  his  prevailing  motives 
of  conduct,  he  is  a  hypocrite. 

Any  minister  who  preaches  as  if  he  were  God's 
messenger,  and  lives  like  a  servant  of  Satan,  is  a  hypo- 
crite. So,  also,  is  any  church-member  whose  daily 
w^alk  is  a  libel  on  his,  or  her,  religious  professions. 
Thus  much  all  will  admit.  But  hypocrisy  is  not 
wholly  among  ministers  and  church-members, — per- 
haps not  chiefly  there.  There  is  much  of  hypocrisy 
out  of  the  church,  among  men  who  have  never  called 
themselves  Christians,  or  claimed  to  be  religiously 
disposed. 

The  law  of  morals  is  the  same  for  the  man  of  the 
world  as  for  the  church-member ;  so,  also,  is  the  law 
of  honor  and  of  true  manliness.  He  who  calls  him- 
self a  moral  man  w^hile  he  is  intemperate,  or  dishon- 
est, or  untruthful,  or  impure,  is  as  surely  hypocritical 


1 24  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

— in  feigning  a  character  he  does  not  possess — as  is  a 
minister  who,  in  his  pulpit,  advocates  total  abstinence, 
and  drinks  wine  or  whisky  in  his  study.  He  who 
claims  to  be  a  man  of  honor  and  of  manliness,  yet  de- 
liberately overreaches  a  neighbor,  defrauds  the  gov- 
ernment, is  untrue  to  a  woman,  or  overbearing  toward 
a  child,  is  no  less  a  hypocrite  than  is  a  church-mem- 
ber who  is  prominent  alike  in  the  prayer-meeting  and 
in  the  gambling-house. 

And  there  are  irreligious  steady  church-goers  who 
are  hypocrites, — who  are  hypocrites  in  claiming  that 
they  are  not  hypocritical.  They  admit  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  only  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  that  he  calls 
on  them  to  come  to  him  in  penitence  and  faith,  and 
confess  him  before  men  as  their  Saviour.  Yet  they 
persistently  refuse  to  do  as  he  desires  them  to ;  and, 
while  thus  refusing,  they  pride  themselves  on  their 
freedom  from  inconsistency,  because,  as  they  say,  they 
make  no  professions  which  they  do  not  live  up  to. 
Their  every  breath  away  from  Christ,  and  out  of  the 
Christian  fold,  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  their  ad- 
mitted convictions  of  duty;  yet  they  ask  on  this  very 
account  to  be  reckoned  sincere  and  consistent  well- 
doers. What  more  clearly-defined  and  flagrant 
h}'pocricy  than  theirs  is  possible  ? 

Just  here,  let  me  say  that  hypocrites  are  not  always 
the  worst  of  men ;  that  hypocrisy  is  not  in  itself  as 
bad  as  much  of  the  evil  purposes  and  shortcomings 
and  wrong-doing  which  it  is  made  to  cover,  albeit  it  is 
so  generally  abhorred.     If  a  man  lacks  a  good  char- 


Character  Surely  Disclosed  125 

acter,  it  is  rather  in  his  favor  that  he  wants  people  to 
think  he  has  one.  "  It  is  a  good  sign  in  a  man  to  be 
capable  of  being  ashamed,"  says  a  Talmudic  proverb. 
He  has  fallen  lowest  in  depravity  who  is  willing  to  be 
known  as  vile. 

Hypocrisy  is,  I  say,  commonly  less  culpable  than 
barefaced,  defiant  rascality ;  yet,  understand  me, 
hypocrisy  is  never  to  be  viewed  with  favor  or  toler- 
ance. The  injunction  of  our  Lord,  in  the  text,  is 
mandatory  on  all ;  on  us  now  as  on  his  disciples  of 
old, — "  Beware  ye  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees, 
which  is  hypocrisy"  !  See  to  it  that  that  which  gives 
yoic  reputation,  in  church  or  in  community,  is  not  the 
Pharisees'  leaven. 

And  ivhy  beware  of  hypocrisy  ?  Why  shun  it  with 
loathing  ?  First,  of  course,  because  it  is  sinful.  The 
greatest  objection  to  any  vice  is  its  sinfulness.  This 
is  too  obvious  to  justify  discussion.  But  Jesus  adds 
another  reason — a  secondary  yet  a  weighty  one — for 
recoiling  from  this  iniquity,  in  his  assertion  that  hypoc- 
risy practically  amounts  to  but  little  ;  that  its  exist- 
ence will  surely  be  disclosed.  The  leaven  will  work 
its  process  of  fermentation  only  for  a  time, — then 
comes  the  collapse,  leaving  only  a  contemptible  resid- 
uum. "  For  there  is  nothing  covered,  that  shall  not 
be  revealed  ;  neither  hid,  that  shall  not  be  known. 
Therefore,  whatsoever  ye  have  spoken  in  darkness 
shall  be  heard  in  the  light ;  and  that  which  ye  have 
spoken  in  the  ear  in  closets  shall  be  proclaimed  upon 
the  housetops." 


126  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

Ah  !  if  men  but  believed  this  divine  utterance, — if 
they  realized  it  in  all  its  far-reaching  significance, — 
would  there  not  be  less  of  hypocritical  pretension  in 
the  world,  and  less  of  evil  being  and  doing  to  be  cov- 
ered up  ?  If  when  men  had  sinned,  their  eyes  could 
be  opened  to  a  sense  of  their  characters  standing 
naked  before  the  world,  would  they  not  hide  them- 
selves "amongst  the  trees  of  the  garden"  until  they 
could  obtain  fig-leaves  to  make  themselves  aprons  ? 

If  the  foul-mouthed  or  false-speaking  man,  or  boy, 
knew  that  his  every  impure  or  profane  word  would 
echo  in  the  ears  of  mother,  wife,  or  sister  ;  or  that 
his  every  untruth  would  be  sounded  out  as  a  lie 
among  all  whose  confidence  he  desired, — think  you 
not  he  would  strive  to  keep  the  door  of  his  lips  ?  If 
every  evil  act  or  unholy  thought  were  sure  to  be 
written  on  the  forehead,  apparent  to  every  passer, 
would  not  the  prayer  of  many  go  up,  "Cleanse  thou 
me  from  secret  faults"  (Psa.  19:  12),  and  "Let  the 
words  of  my  mouth,  and  the  meditation  of  my  heart, 
be  acceptable  in  thy  sight,  O  Lord  "  ?  (Psa.  19  :  14.) 

If,  indeed,  all  hypocrites  were  convinced  that  the 
cloaks  they  now  fold  around  their  characters  so  grace- 
fully must  be  torn  away,  that  the  veils  which  now 
conceal  their  moral  features  must  be  uplifted,  that 
the  records  of  motive  which  no  eye  but  their  own  has 
ever  seen,  must  be  exposed  to  the  gaze  of  all, — would 
they  not  stand  appalled,  and  be  compelled  to  long  earn- 
estly for  a  better  character  than  that  formed  by  the 
Pharisees'  leaven,  with  its  rapidly  effervescing  power  ? 


Charactei'  Surely  Disclosed  127 

Yes  !  The  blessed  Jesus  "  knew  what  was  in  man," 
— knew  his  fears  and  desires,  knew  what  would  in- 
fluence and  impress  him ;  and  because  of  the  potency 
of  such  a  truth  with  every  man  accepting  it,  our 
Saviour  uttered  the  startling  declaration  of  our  text, — 
a  declaration  alarming  to  any  person  who  would  fain 
conceal  his  character  from  his  fellows,  but  one  of 
which  the  truth  is  reaffirmed  continually,  to  every  in- 
telligent observer  of  the  course  of  nature  and  the 
dealings  of  Providence, — "  There  is  nothing  covered, 
that  shall  not  be  revealed ;  neither  hid,  that  shall  not 
be  known." 

Let  us  look,  for  a  few  minutes,  at  some  of  the  cor- 
roboratory evidences  of  the  truth  of  this  declaration. 

/.  The  teiidency  of  all  nature  is  to  openness^  not  to 
concealment ;  to  uncovering^  not  to  hiding. 

Cut  a  single  gash,  scarcely  perceptible  to-day,  in 
the  trunk  of  a  vigorously  growing  sapling,  and  that 
gash  will  grow  wider  as  the  tree  grows  larger ;  and 
years  hence  the  scar  will  be  more  prominent  than  in 
the  hour  it  was  made.  Take  every  stone  from  the 
surface  of  a  newly-plowed  field,  and  harrow  over 
the  upturned  earth  until  all  is  level  and  fair, — then 
leave  it  to  itself  for  a  single  year.  Will  that  field  pre- 
sent the  same  unbroken  surface  when  twelve  months 
have  gone  ?  Or,  will  the  silent  workings  of  nature 
have  thrown  up  from  below  the  pebbles  and  boulders 
that  can  be  covered  only  for  a  season  ? 

The  ocean  is,  with  its  every  tide-flow,  washing  from 


2  8  SJioes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


its  depths  some  of  its  long-hid  treasures,  and  reveal- 
ing alonsr  the  beach  the  shells  'and  weed  and  coral 
and  fragments  of  wreck  that  were  hidden  for  only  a 
passing  time.  The  very  mountains  and  hills  are 
crumbling  away;  and  again  the  valleys  they  cover  are 
beinn-  laid  bare  as  before.  Cities  buried  under  the 
volcanic  flow  of  one  age  are  exposed  in  the  next. 
One  earthquake  opens  what  another  had  concealed. 
Each  season  discloses  some  secret  of  one  that  went 
before.  "  I  will  overturn,  overturn,  overturn  "  (Ezek. 
21  :  27),  says  nature  doing  God's  work,  in  all  its 
changing  moods  ;  and  the  falling  rain,  the  rushing 
wind,  and  the  roaring  surf,  reiterate  the  divine  assev- 
eration, "There  is  nothing  covered,  that  shall  not  be 
revealed  ;  neither  hid,  that  shall  not  be  known." 

God  controls  in  nature  all  his  creations,  and  con- 
forms them  to  his  eternal  purpose  of  their  self-dis- 
closure. It  is  a  primal  truth  that  Campbell  puts  into 
the  mouth  of  his  wizard : 

"  Lochiel  !  Lochiel  !  beware  of  the  day  ! 
For,  dark  and  despairing,  my  sight  I  may  seal ; 
But  man  can  not  cover  what  God  would  reveal." 

Man  himself  is  so  formed  that  the  very  thoughts  of 
his  heart  take  quick  shape  in  the  expression  of  his 
face,  the  movements  of  his  body,  and  the  tones  of 
his  voice.  The  skilled  anatomist  will  tell  with  unerr- 
ing accuracy  just  which  facial  muscles  are  brought  in 
play  by  each  varying  emotion.  It  requires,  moreover, 
no  scientific  knowledge  to  detect  the  outward  signs  of 
anger,  sorrow,  or  delight ;  and  even  an  infant  knows 


CJiaracter  Surely  Disclosed  129 


the  difference  between  a  mother's  smile  and  a  mother's 
frown.  All  of  us  perceive  in  some  faces  which  we 
meet,  the  workings  below  of  purity  and  truthfulness 
and  faith  and  kindness  of  heart  and  nobleness  of  soul, 
or  of  deceitfulness  and  lust  and  discontent  and  sor- 
did selfishness;  and  we  judge  the  disclosed  charac- 
ters accordingly. 

A  certain  degree  of  self-control  and  self-conceal- 
ment is,  to  be  sure,  acquired  by  resolute  purpose  and 
continued  practice ;  but  few  persons  are  so  far  ad- 
vanced in  artful  diplomacy  as  to  always  employ  their 
words  and  acts  in  the  Talleyrandic  use  of  concealing 
one's  ideas.  It  was  said  of  so  skilled  a  politician  as 
Sir  Robert  Peel,  that  the  manner  in  which  he  threw 
open  the  collar  of  his  coat  on  entering  Parliament  of 
an  evening  showed  which  way  the  ministerial  wind 
was  blowing. 

So  the  most  wary  will  be  off  their  guard  sometimes, 
telling  tales  of  their  inner  being  and  feeling  by  chance 
remarks  or  pointed  questions ;  by  a  start,  a  shudder, 
a  smile,  or  a  shoulder-shrug ;  by  an  answer  of  thought- 
less ill-nature  or  an  act  of  impulsive  meanness;  or  on 
the  other  hand  by  overflowing  w^ords  of  abounding 
kindliness  and  far-reaching  charity.  It  is  God's  truth, 
and  it  is  God's  plan,  that  *'A  good  man  out  of  the 
good  treasure  of  the  heart  bringcth  forth  good  things  : 
and  an  evil  man  out  of  the  evil  treasure  briitgeth  fortli 
evil  things"  (Matt.  12  :  35).  In  the  long  run  a  man 
can  not  do  otherwise  than  show  out  his  real  self. 

Men  even  ache  to  tell  the  truth  concerning  them- 


1 30  Shoes  and  Rations  foi^  a  Long  March 

selves,  and  e\'il-doers  who  have  a  reputation  beyond 
their  deserts  are,  from  time  to  time,  confessing  their 
faults  one  to  another, — not  so  much  in  obedience  to 
the  apostolic  injunction  as  in  accordance  with  the 
divinely-ordered  promptings  of  their  natures.  They 
can  not  help  it.     The  truth  must  out. 

Hood's  "  Eugene  Aram  "  gave  voice  to  the  vain  cry 
of  many  a  longing  hypocrite,  as  he  shut  the  book  he 
held,  and 

"  Strained  die  dusky  covers  close, 
And  fixed  die  brazen  hasp  : — 
*  O  God  !  could  I  so  close  my  mind, 
And  clasp  it  with  a  clasp.'  " 

And  he  represented  the  wdiole  legion  of  heart-burst- 
ing hypocrites,  when  he  sat  down  with  the  school- 
boys, and,  under  the  guise  of  a  dream,  told  the  story 
of  his  crime,  and  of  his  failures  to  cover  effectually 
the  body  of  his  murdered  victim. 

"  I  knew  my  secret  then  was  one 

The  earth  refused  to  keep — 
Or  land  or  sea,  though  he  should  be 

Ten  thousand  fathoms  deep. 
So  wills  the  fierce  avenging  sprite, 

Till  blood  for  blood  atones  ! 
Aye,  though  he's  buried  in  a  cave, 

And  trodden  down  with  stones, 
And  years  have  rotted  off  his  flesh — 

The  world  shall  see  his  bones." 

"  For  there  is  nothing  covered,  that  shall  not  be  re- 
vealed ;  neither  hid,  that  shall  not  be  known." 


Choj^acter  Surely  Disclosed  131 

Another  verification  of  our  text  is  this : 

2.  It  is  a  habit  of  nature  to  record  its  cJianges ;  to 
self-register  its  history  and  progress. 

The  geologic  strata  of  the  earth's  substance  tell 
plainly  the  order  of  creation,  and  enable  the  savant 
to  describe  to  us  the  successive  formations  of  the 
pre-Adamite  world.  In  its  mineral,  its  vegetable, 
and  its  animal  productions,  each  age  has  made  its 
mark,  told  its  story,  and  left  its  record  for  all  coming 
time. 

The  opened  mountain-side  reveals  its  consecutive 
layers  piled  one  above  another,  no  subsequent  accum- 
ulations having  removed,  however  they  have  covered, 
what  went  before.  The  concentric  grain  rings  of  the 
ancient  tree  trunk  show  just  how  many  summers  and 
winters  have  passed  since  the  little  acorn  broke  the 
surface  of  the  covering  soil.  And  the  tiniest  moth 
floating  in  the  sunlight  bears  evidence  on  its  wings, 
to  the  observing  naturalist,  of  the  already  spent  hours 
of  its  brief  existence. 

So  of  man :  not  only  his  age,  but  his  career,  is 
written  on  his  outer  being.  That  which  he  has 
passed  through  is  noted  ;  that  which  he  has  done  is 
registered.  Disease  never  leaves  the  human  body 
just  as  it  found  it,  nor  does  sorrow  or  sin.  He  who 
has  known  real  bitterness  of  soul,  he  who  has  been 
much  in  imminent  peril,  he  who  has  indulged  in  vice, 
he  who  has  made  a  hard  struggle  with  temptation, — 
whether  the  issue  to  him  was  victory  or  defeat, — gives 


132   Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Lo7ig  March 


testimony  of  his  experiences  in  both  feature  and  ex- 
pression. 

Tennyson  says  of  Sir  Lancelot  of  the  Lake, 

"  The  great  and  guilty  love  he  bore  the  Queen, 
In  battle  with  the  love  he  bore  his  lord, 
Had  mar'd  his  face,  and  marked  it  ere  his  time." 

A  similar  process  of  character-recording  goes  on  in 
every  human  countenance.  Simple-hearted  King 
Duncan  may  indeed  declare 

"  There's  no  art 
To  find  the  mind's  construction  in  the  face," 

but  keen-eyed  Lady  Macbeth  knows  better  than  this, 
and  her  warning  is  to  her  Hege,  as  his  plans  of  treach- 
ery and  murder  progress, 

"  Your  face,  my  thane,  is  as  a  book  where  men 
May  read  strange  matters." 

We  are  even  told  by  some  medical  writers,  con- 
cerning this  registering  power  of  the  emotions,  that 
each  controlling  thought  and  purpose  "  impresses  on 
the  body  some  indelible  mark,"  and  a  long  continu- 
ance of  similar  thoughts  and  feelings  makes  an  im- 
print which  is  clearly  perceptible.  This  being  so,  it 
is  plain  that  no  man  can  deliberately  shirk  a  duty  or 
do  a  wrong  without  having  written  on  his  counte- 
nance some  mark  which  tends  to  disclose  the  story 
of  his  failure  or  transgression,  and  which,  when 
deepened  and  multiplied,  may  be  observed  by  those 
who  are  quick  at  character-judging. 

"  Understanding  human  nature,"  as  we  employ  the 


Character  Surely  Disclosed  133 

phrase,  involves  a  familiarity  with  the  sure  cipher  in 
which  the  record  of  the  inner  life  is  written  on  the 
outer  man.  Some  are  better  scholars  than  others  in 
this  language,  but  all  know  more  or  less  of  it, — more 
usually  than  those  on  whom  it  is  written  suppose. 

We  have  all  met  faces  which  inspired  us  on  the  in- 
stant with  confidence  or  with  distrust.  We  felt  sure, 
at  the  start,  of  the  characters  they  indicated.  One 
glimpse  was  sufficient.  We  did  not  ask  to  watch  the 
persons  bearing  those  faces,  to  learn  of  them  more 
surely  by  their  daily  conduct  for  weeks  or  months 
together.  The  story  of  their  conduct  for  years  was 
before  us  at  a  glance.  We  knew  what  it  must  have 
been,  and  what  it  would  continue  to  be. 

And  again  we  have  seen  faces  change — handsome 
faces  lose  their  beauty,  or  plain  faces  glow  with  new 
loveliness — through  a  disclosure  and  development  of 
character.  We  have  seen  faces  grow  grandly  beauti- 
ful under  the  pressure  of  new  responsibility,  at  home 
or  in  the  army.  We  have  seen  other  faces  shine  as 
the  face  of  an  angel,  in  the  hour  of  bereavement  and 
sorrow, — even  as  the  porcelain  shade  of  a  study  lamp 
shows  for  the  first  time  its  real  attractiveness  when 
the  darkness  shuts  in  about  it,  and  the  light  from 
within  it  gleams  through,  to  illuminate  and  make  dis- 
tinct the  lovely  picture  it  presents. 

Again,  we  have  noted  with  sadness  the  look  of 
purity,  of  truthfulness,  of  reverence,  of  tenderness,  pass 
away  from  the  countenance  of  one  we  had  admired. 
Or  we  have  watched  with  interest  the  deepening  lines 


1 34  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

of  manly  power  in  the  face  of  one  who  battled  bravely 
in  his  contest  with  some  besetting  sin,  or  some  soul- 
racking  temptation,  until  his  heroic  form  seemed 
hung  all  over  with  medals  of  victory. 

As  we  have  observed  these  disclosed  evidences  of 
progress  in  character, — for  better  or  for  worse, — we 
have  had  fresh  occasion  to  realize  that  in  man's  being 
— as  in  every  other  sphere  of  nature — there  is  a  book 
of  God's  remembrance,  preserving  for  all  time  the 
story  of  each  movement  and  change,  and  that  it  is 
God's  will  concerning  the  records  of  this  book  that 
"  there  is  nothing  covered,  that  shall  not  be  revealed ; 
neither  hid,  that  shall  not  be  known." 

There  is  one  more  truth  in  corroboration  of  our 
text  which  ought  not  to  be  overlooked. 

J.  The  tireless  curiosity  of  man  is  an  agency  for 
the  uncovering  of  that  zuhich  craves  concealment. 

Every  man  is  more  or  less  interested  in  what  con- 
cerns his  fellows,  and  he  desires  to  understand  the 
characters  of  those  with  whom  he  is  brought  into 
association.  He  observes,  oftCxi  unintentionally,  little 
things  which  go  to  show  their  idiosyncrasies,  and 
from  each  and  all  of  these  he  draws  his  inferences  and 
derives  his  impressions.  And,  in  conversation  with 
each  other,  men  compare  opinions  of  those  they  have 
separately  observed.  One  has  noted  one  thing ; 
another,  another.  The  information  of  all  becomes 
common  stock,  and  gradually  an  average  and  pretty 


Character  Surely  Disclosed  135 

accurate  estimate  is  arrived  at  of  the  characters  under 
consideration. 

He  who  is  skilful  enough  as  a  hypocrite  to  deceive 
any  single  observer,  proves  no  match  for  the  com- 
bined intelligence  of  the  community  when  its  gaze, 
from  any  cause,  centers  on  him.  He  can  easily  show 
one  side  of  his  character  to  one  man ;  but  he  can  not 
be  sure  of  showing  only  that  side  to  all  of  a  hundred 
men  who  are  looking  at  him  from  different  points  of 
observation. 

In  the  process  of  what  is  known  as  "  photo-sculp- 
ture," the  sitter  finds  himself  in  the  center  of  an  octag- 
onal chamber,  with  cameras  pointed  at  him  from  every 
side,  each  taking  a  picture  of  him  with  its  own  peculiar 
view.  When,  afterwards,  the  various  operators  bring 
together  their  distinct  "impressions"  of  the  sitter,  he 
is  shown  as  he  appeared  from  before,  from  behind, 
from  this  side,  from  that  side,  and  from  yet  other 
directions.  Tlicn  it  is  easy  enough  to  put  him  in 
plaster  for  permanent  exhibition.  Every  man  is  in 
such  a  chamber  as  that,  having  these  various  corre- 
sponding impressions  made  of  him,  a  great  deal 
oftener  than  he  thinks  for. 

Let  a  man  be  nominated  for  political  office,  and  see 
if  any  weak  spot  in  his  character  has  been  overlooked 
by  members  of  the  opposite  party !  Or  let  a  man  be 
charged  with  crime  and  brought  to  trial, — how  aston- 
ished he  is  to  find  that  he  was  observed  so  closely 
in  his  every  act  at  the  time  in  question,  by  those 
whom  he  neither  knew  nor  saw.     One  and  another 


136  Shoes  and  Ratiofis  for  a  Long  Mai^ch 


can  show  what  streets  he  passed,  what  purchases  he 
made,  and  how  he  looked  and  bore  himself  while  yet 
unsuspected  of  crime, — while  indeed  he  was  no  more 
observed  than  his  fellows ;  for  if  another  man  had 
been  charged  with  the  same  misdeed,  another  set  of 
men  would  have  testified  of  him  with  like  fidelity  of 
detail. 

It  is  in  enforcement  of  this  general  truth  that  Burns 
gives  reminder  : 

"  If  there's  a  hole  in  a'  your  coats, 
I  rede  ye  tent  it ; 
A  chiel's  amang  ye  takin'  notes, 
And,  faith,  he'll  prent  it." 

A  young  man,  or  an  older  one,  may  think  himself 
quite  out  of  familiar  notice  in  the  crowd  of  a  strange 
city, — or  in  the  back  street  of  a  town  where  he  lives, — 
when  really  at  least  one  sharp  eye  watches  intelli- 
gently his  every  movement,  or  one  keen  ear  catches 
the  sound  of  his  well-known  voice;  and  his  conduct 
there  will  be  quickly  reported  in  the  circle  of  his 
home  friends,  although  he  may  not  know  of  this  dis- 
closure for  months,  or  years — If  ever. 

Is  it  not  in  view  of  this  certainty  of  the  exposure 
of  evil,  through  unsuspected  reporters  everywhere  at 
hand,  that  the  inspired  Preacher  sounds  the  warning 
cry,  "Curse  not  the  king,  no  not  in  thy  thought; 
and  curse  not  the  rich  in  thy  bedchamber :  for  a  bird 
of  the  air  shall  carry  the  voice,  and  that  which  hath 
wings  shall  tell  the  matter"  ?    (Eccl.  10  :  20.) 

Ralph  Waldo   Emerson,  like   many  another  of  the 


Character  Surely  Disclosed  137 

world's  philosophers,  merely  paraphrases  a  Scripture 
passage  to  express  what  is  called  one  of  his  original 
thoughts,  when  he  declares :  "  A  man  passes  for 
what  he  is  worth.  Very  idle  is  all  curiosity  concern- 
ing other  people's  estimate  of  us,  and  all  fear  of  re- 
maining unknown  is  not  less  so.  .  .  .  The  world  is  full 
of  judgment  days,  and  into  every  assembly  that  a 
man  enters,  in  every  action  that  he  attempts,  he  is 
gauged  and  stamped.  In  every  troop  of  boys  that 
whoop  and  run  in  each  yard  and  square,  a  newcomer 
is  well  and  accurately  weighed  in  the  course  of  a  few 
days,  and  stamped  with  his  right  measure,  as  if  he 
had  undergone  a  formal  trial  of  his  strength." 

What  is  this  but  an  expansion — or  an  illustration — 
of  our  text  ?  "  Beware  ye  of  the  leaven  of  the  Phar- 
isees, which  is  hypocrisy.  For  there  is  nothing  cov- 
ered, that  shall  not  be  revealed  ;  neither  hid,  that  shall 
not  be  known." 

My  friends,  I  beg  of  you,  think  of  these  things ! 
This  subject  has  its  practical  bearings  on  the  lives  of 
all  of  you.  You  are  all  better  known, — estimated 
more  nearly  at  your  true  value, — and  your  course  is 
more  clearly  watched  and  widely  reported,  than  most 
of  you  have  supposed.  There  are  very  few  persons 
who  would  not  be  surprised  if  they  should  hear  their 
neighbors  talk  of  them, — surprised  at  the  particularity 
with  which  their  characters  are  sketched,  and  their 
conduct  is  commented  on.  Yoii  are  no  exception  to 
the  general  rule  on  this  point. 


138  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

Have  you  done  anything  of  late  which  you  would 
be  ashamed  to  let  the  world  know,  because  of  its  in- 
consistency with  a  character  you  lay  claim  to  ?  If 
you  have,  it  is  doubtless  more  than  suspected  by 
others.  Your  ostrich  body  may  have  been  seen, 
while  your  eyes  were  buried  in  the  bush.  Your  tell- 
tale face  may  have  revealed  the  story  when  you 
thought  it  covered  forever.  Your  cherished  secret  is, 
perhaps,  already  being  whispered  into  the  ears  of  a 
constantly-v.idening  circle  of  listeners.  Its  full  dis- 
closure, to  your  shame,  may  be  just  at  hand.  It  is 
often  thus.  A  gathered  cloud  of  public  censure  or 
contempt  is  over  many  a  head  that  stands  erect  in 
pride  of  conscious  safety  ;  and  only  the  lightning-rod 
of  a  special  accusation  is  needed  to  cause  it  to  pour 
its  stormy  contents  on  the  victim  below. 

At  all  events,  whatever  you  have  been  or  have 
done  hitherto,  you  ought  to  leave  this  house  to-day 
resolved,  in  the  strength  which  God  gives  to  his  chil- 
dren who  ask  believingly,  that  you  will  henceforth  be 
and  do  that — and  that  only — which  you  would  be 
willing  to  have  the  reputation  of,  everywhere  and 
always.  Your  reputation,  mark  you,  is  what  people 
think  you  are.  Your  cliaracter  is  what  you  really 
are.  In  the  long  run,  the  only  sure  basis  of  a  good 
reputation  is  a  good  character.  You  are  not  likely 
to  have  permanently  any  better  name — or  any  worse — 
than  you  deserve. 

If  you  would  be  counted  generous,  give  liberally — 
not  adroitly.     If  you   wish   to   be   called  pure,  shun 


Character  Surely  Disclosed  139 


evil  desires  and  indulgings — rather  than  waste  breath 
in  growls  over  gossiping  neighbors.  If  you  seek 
credit  as  a  consistent  Christian,  do  justly,  love  mercy, 
and  walk  humbly  with  your  God, — not  expecting  to 
win  that  name  by  profession,  nor  to  secure  it  by  de- 
mand. 

But,  you  may  say,  there  are  persons  whose  charac- 
ters are  not  disclosed.  It  may  even  be  a  cause  of 
gladness  that  yoit  are  not  shown  to  others  in  your 
true  light.  Possibly  you  flatter  yourselves  that  in 
your  case,  at  least,  there  is  something  covered  that 
shall  not  be  revealed ;  something  hid  that  shall  not 
be  known.  Ah  !  my  friends,  '*  the  end  is  not  yet " 
(Matt.  24  :  6).  The  disclosure  may,  in  one  case  or 
another,  be  long  delayed  ;  but  it  shall  come  at  the 
last.  "  The  wolf  must  die  in  his  own  skin,"  says 
quaint  George  Herbert. 

If  indeed  there  be  no  full  revelation  of  your  char- 
acter until  the  close  of  your  present  life,  it  shall  be 
made  beyond  :  "  For  we  must  all  appear  before  the 
judgment  seat  of  Christ;  that  every  one  may  receive 
the  things  done  in  his  body,  according  to  that  he  hath 
done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad"  (2  Cor.  5  :  10). 

"  Ah  !  what  trembling  then,  what  quaiUng, 
When  shall  come  the  Judge  unfailing, 
Every  human  life  unveihng." 

No  cloak  there  !  What  a  man  "  hath  done,"  not 
what  others  suppose  him  to  have  done.  As  he  has 
been,  not  as  he  has  claimed  to  be. 


140  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

"  The  volume  open'd  !  open'd  every  heart  ! 
A  sunbeam  pointing  out  each  secret  thought !  " 

Then — then,  if  never  before — every  eye  shall  see, 
and  every  ear  shall  hear,  and  every  mind  shall  know, 
and  every  heart  shall  feel — in  all  the  universe  of  God 
— that  "  there  is  nothing  covered,  that  shall  not  be  re- 
vealed; neither  hid,  that  shall  not  be  known." 


MY  CHAPLAINCY  AMONG  STUDENTS 


VII 

MY  CHAPLAINCY  AMONG  STUDENTS 

As  I  have  already  mentioned,  my  preaching  after 
my  return  from  the  war  was  practically  a  result  of 
and  was  largely  shaped  by  my  army  service.  I  had 
never  learned  in  a  theological  training  school  the  con- 
ventional methods  of  presenting  religious  truths,  or 
the  science  of  "  sacred  rhetoric."  And  I  had  reason 
to  know  that  my  hearers  perceived  this.  I  had  learned 
to  address  men  in  army  service,  either  as  new  recruits 
or  as  trained  soldiers,  and  to  press  on  them  practi- 
cally their  duties,  their  privileges,  and  their  dangers. 
Abstract  truths  I  had  had,  as  a  chaplain,  no  occasion 
to  discuss  or  to  present. 

And  in  civil  life,  as  in  army  service,  there  were 
many  who  needed  to  be  addressed  as  those  who  must 
be  in  life's  warfare,  and  who  needed  to  realize  their 
duties  and  dangers  and  privileges,  in  struggle  for  and 
in  expectation  of  the  victory  and  rewards  in  their 
sphere.  Such  soldiers,  especially  the  young  ones, 
appealed  to  me,  and  aroused  me  to  appeal  to  them. 
Peculiarly  was  this  so  in  the  case  of  students  in  pre- 
paratory schools  and  in  colleges.  On  this  account  I 
liked  to  address  such  students,  as  I  moved  about  my 

143 


1 44  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

New  England  field  in  my  Sunday-school  missionary 
work.  As  a  boy  I  had  been  at  school  at  Williston 
Seminary  in  Easthampton,  Massachusetts.  During 
the  war  I  had  been  in  service  with  many  Williston 
boys.  After  the  war  I  found  army  comrades  among 
the  teachers  at  Williston,  and  boys  in  whom  I  was 
particularly  interested  were  pupils  there.  And  thus 
Williston  Seminary  became  a  portion  of  my  field  in 
my  chaplaincy  after  the  war. 

Preaching  to  those  in  that  field,  I  found  my  ser- 
mons of  war-time  a  good  preparation  for  my  sermons 
to  them.  Well-nigh  all  the  sermons  which  I  preached 
to  these  boys  I  had  first  preached  in  the  army.  The 
germ  had  been  started  there ;  the  change  of  soil  and 
of  atmosphere,  of  course,  demanded  changes  in  de- 
velopment and  treatment;  but  in  both  places  the  de- 
sired result  and  fruitage  were  the  same.  The  train- 
ing which  I  had  had  for  the  army  chaplaincy  proved 
to  be  a  good  training  for  my  religious  addresses  to 
young  cadets  who  were  yet  in  preparation  for  active 
service  in  life's  warfare.  And  in  trying  to  meet  this 
new  demand  on  my  best  abilities  and  efforts,  I  was 
really  pursuing  a  post-graduate  course  of  study  in  the 
line  of  my  maturer  life-studies  and  endeavors.  And 
this  fact  may  give  a  certain  value  to  these  sermons  as 
showing  the  method  of  their  preparing  and  the  pur- 
pose of  their  delivering.  Obviously  they  are  not  con- 
ventional sermons,  nor  are  they  likely  to  be  valued  as 
such. 

When  I  had  been  preaching  to  the  Williston  boys 


My  Chaplaincy  Amo7ig  Students        145 

one  of  the  foregoing  sermons  inspired  by  the  soldier 
spirit,  Principal  Marshall  Henshaw  asked  me  into  his 
office  on  Monday  morning  to  request  a  special  favor 
from  me,  or  to  lay  a  particular  duty  on  me.  He  said 
kindly  that  my  style  of  preaching  seemed  to  attract 
and  lay  hold  on  the  boys,  and  he  wanted  my  help  in 
meeting  a  particular  difficulty  that  he  had  to  contend 
with  in  their  control.  He  said  that  even  well-disposed 
boys  who,  if  left  to  themselves,  would  prefer  to  do 
right,  would  often  be  induced  to  go  with  the  crowd 
in  the  wrong  direction.  It  was  not  a  matter  of  wrong 
purpose  so  much  as  it  was  a  lack  of  determined  inde- 
pendence in  action.  He  believed  that  with  my  method 
of  getting  at  boys  I  could  find  a  way  of  meeting  this, 
as  an  ordinary  clergyman  could  not.  He  wished  that 
when  I  came  again  I  would  preach  on  the  subject. 

So  with  this  mission  thus  laid  on  me,  my  thoughts 
were  at  once  turned  to  the  subject.  The  preparing 
for  the  doing  of  that  special  duty  proved  to  be  one  of 
the  developing  periods  of  my  life-course.  Having 
decided  on  my  text  and  sermon-plan,  I  set  myself  to 
gathering  the  material  for  the  filling  in  of  the  outline. 
I  sought  special  needful  knowledge  and  illustrative 
facts  in  books  in  my  own  library,  and  then  I  bought 
other  books  by  the  score.  I  desired  to  be  confi- 
dent as  to  every  statement  made  by  me,  and  to  be 
sure  as  to  the  fitness  and  force  of  every  illustration 
employed. 

Week  after  week  went  by,  and  yet  I  was  by  no 
means  ready  with  my  sermon,  or  even  prepared  for  its 


1 46  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

writincf.  I  made  notes  of  the  material  I  would  like 
to  use  in  my  sermon  ;  but  I  found  these  notes  expand- 
ing and  multiplying  beyond  all  my  anticipations.  As 
my  sermon  was  to  touch  on  all  the  phases  of  true 
manhood,  I  must  know  about  the  proper  training  of 
the  body,  the  intellect,  and  the  spirit  of  one  who  would 
have  character  as  a  true  man,  and  hence  there  came 
much  of  my  preliminary  study. 

After  some  eleven  months  of  this  preparation,  I 
set  myself  to  arranging  my  gathered  material.  In 
order  to  have  it  fairly  before  me  for  selection,  I  made 
a  careful  index  of  the  whole,  so  that  I  might  study 
that  and  then  choose  what  I  deemed  the  best.  I 
then  began  to  write.  It  was  only  after  some  thirteen 
months  from  the  time  I  undertook  this  mission  that 
I  had  a  sermon  ready  for  its  preaching.  As  the  basis 
of  this  sermon  to  students,  I  took  the  text  and  sermon- 
plan  on  which  I  had  preached  to  my  regiment  before 
Richmond  in  the  last  year  of  the  war.  We  had  just 
then  been  receiving  many  new  recruits  and  "substi- 
tutes," who  needed  to  be  taught  the  first  duties  of  a 
soldier  and  a  man.  My  words  to  them,  therefore, 
were  fitting  words  for  any  young  man.  We  never 
get  beyond  fundamentals,  in  the  army  or  out  of  it. 

I  mention  these  facts  as  illustrative  of  the  truth 
that,  although  I  had  no  formal  training  in  a  theologi- 
cal seminary  or  divinity  school  to  fit  me  to  preach  to 
soldiers  or  students,  I  did  not  assume  to  give  my 
hearers,  as  worth  their  having,  that  which  had  cost 
me  nothing,  or  which  I  had  not  studied  for. 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Students        147 


That  special  sermon  for  students  represents  a  turn- 
ing-point and  training  period  in  my  life,  and  I  value  it 
for  what  its  preparation  did  for  me,  aside  from  what 
its  hearing  may  have  induced  any  hearer  to  do  for 

himself. 

Having  prepared  a  special  sermon  for  students,  as 
already  described,  I  preached  it  in  Easthampton,  in 
February,  1869.  It  seemed  to  interest  the  boys,  and 
it  was  heartily  approved  by  the  instructors  and  other 
grown-up  hearers.  Dr.  Samuel  T.  Seelye,  in  whose 
pulpit  I  preached  it,  was  so  much  interested  in  that 
sermon  that  he  wrote  to  Amherst,  where  were  his 
two  distinguished  brothers,  and  urged  that  I  should 
be  asked  to  preach  it  before  the  college  students. 
Accordingly,  I  was  invited  to  do  so. 

Having  re-adapted  my  sermon  to  meet  the  needs  of 
older  students,  I  preached  it  one  Sunday  morning 
before  the  students  and  professors  of  Amherst  Col- 
lege, and  by  request  I  repeated  it,  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  same  day,  before  the  Agricultural  College  of 
Massachusetts  in  another  part  of  town.  It  was  most 
warmly  received  in  both  places. 

Professor  L.  Clark  Seelye,  now  President  of  Smith 
College  for  Women  at  Northampton,  but  then  a  pro- 
fessor and  college  pastor  in  Amherst  College,  was  en- 
thusiastic about  the  sermon.  Writing  me  about  it 
several  weeks  later,  he  said: 

"  The  sermon  which  you  preached  to  our  students 
last  term  was  of  great  benefit  to  them.  I  have  never 
listened  to  a  more  successful  exposure  of  those  follies 


148  Shoes  and  Rations  /or  a  Long  March 


to  which  students  are  naturally  addicted,  and  about 
which  they  are  also  peculiarly  sensitive. 

**  Had  any  member  of  the  faculty  said  the  same 
things,  the  effect  would  have  been  far  different  It 
would  have  been  regarded  merely  as  an  attempt  to 
maintain  college  authority,  and  very  likely  the  young 
men  would  have  behaved  worse  than  ever.  It  is,  in 
fact,  a  very  delicate  matter  for  any  one  to  criticise  the 
standard  of  morality  which  is  common  among  stu- 
dents. Your  good  humor  made  your  plea  all  the 
more  effective  ;  and  I  think  the  moral  standard  of  the 
college  has  been  higher  ever  since. 

"  I  heartily  wish  the  sermon  might  be  given  in  every 
college  in  the  land." 

President  Clark,  of  the  Agricultural  College,  who 
was  an  experienced  soldier  in  the  Civil  War,  and  who 
therefore  appreciated  the  army-chaplain  standpoint, 
wrote  of  the  sermon  as  ''very  interesting,  and  full  of 
valuable  instruction  and  effective  exhortation.  It 
seems  to  me  peculiarly  adapted  to  benefit  young  men 
in  schools  and  colleges  who  are  engaged  in  qualifying 
themselves  for  active  life."  He  hoped  I  might  "  preach 
it  a  thousand  times." 

Inconsequence  of  the  representations  from  Amherst 
College  officials  as  to  this  sermon,  I  was  invited  to 
preach  it  at  Williams  College,  and  again  at  Yale.  At 
the  latter  place  it  was  heard  not  only  by  students,  but 
by  professors  of  the  theological  as  well  as  of  the 
academic  faculty.  That  those  who  were  set  to  train 
men  as  preachers  and  teachers  perceived  that  /  had 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Students        149 


not  learned  the  lessons  they  deemed  most  impor- 
tant to  a  clergyman,  and  that  they  were  unfamiliar 
with  an  army  chaplain's  way  of  talking  to  men, 
was  made  clear  in  their  subsequent  conversations 
with  me. 

While  I  had  evidence  that  both  in  the  faculty  and 
among  the  students  interest  in  my  theme  had  been 
aroused  by  my  discourse,  there  was  discussion  for 
some  time  afterward  as  to  the  unconventional  and 
army-chaplain  style  of  address  which  I  employed  in 
the  pulpit.  This  was  clearly  brought  out  in  an  ex- 
tended conversation  on  the  subject  which  I  had  with 
an  influential  member  of  the  theological  faculty.  He 
had  no  criticism  to  make  as  to  any  error  observed  in 
the  truths  taught,  or  any  lack  of  reverence  in  the 
spirit  and  manner  of  the  preacher.  Yet  the  utterly 
unconventional  and  non-divinity-school  style  of  ser- 
monizing was  an  evident  shock  to  him.  And,  there- 
fore, I  speak  of  this  thus  fully  in  submitting  to  the 
public  these  specimens  of  army-chaplain-like  sermons, 
with  all  their  differences  from  the  theological  seminary 
standard  of  sermons. 

After  his  full  explanation  of  doubts  on  the  subject, 
my  friend,  the  professor,  said  frankly  and  with  great 
kindness  : 

"  Now  do  not  misunderstand  me,  Mr.  Trumbull,  or 
think  that  I  am  criticising  your  sermon  or  your  way 
of  sermonizing.  That  sermon  to  young  men  was  re- 
markable in  the  interest  it  excited  and  in  the  impres- 
sion it  produced.     It  has  been  a  subject  of  conversation 


150  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


among  its  hearers  ever  since.  Our  [theological]  pro- 
fessors have  discussed  that  sermon  and  its  method 
with  not  a  Httle  interest.  We  never  heard  any  sermon 
hke  it  before.  That  you  did  what  you  undertook  to 
do  there  can  be  no  doubt.  But  I  am  free  to  say,  that 
if  your  idea  of  the  way  to  sermonize  to  young  men 
is  the  correct  way,  then  our  way  of  training  ministers 
in  this  theological  seminary  for  forty  years  has  been 
all  wrong — all  wrong."  And  there  we  two  left  the 
subject. 

It  may  be  well  to  mention  that  I  told  this  story  at 
the  time  to  good  Dr.  Bushnell,  who  always  had  an 
interest  in  me  and  my  work.  In  his  characteristic 
heartiness  he  said  bluntly  : 

"  Well,  Trumbull,  you  are  right  in  this  thing,  and 
they  are  wrong." 

Not  all  readers  or  hearers  will  agree  with  either 
Dr.  Bushnell  or  with  the  theological  professor  as  to 
this  matter.  Some  will  agree  with  the  one  and  some 
with  the  other.  Yet  others  again  will  think,  with  the 
Connecticut  Baptist  evangelist,  that  "  the  best  way  to 
preach  is  to  preach  every  way."  But  out  of  my  per- 
sonal experience  I  must  con*:inue  to  think  that  an 
army  chaplain  would  not  be  best  fitted  for  his  preach- 
ing by  a  strict  adherence  to  the  methods  laid  down  in 
the  average  theological  seminary. 


DUTY  OF  BEING  A  MAN 

Be  thou  strong  therefore,  and  shew  thyself  a  man  " 
(i   Kings  2  :  2). 

These  were  the  words  of  the  dying  King  David  to 
Solomon,  his  son  and  kingly  successor.  They  are  not 
his  entire  charge,  but  they  form  its  substance  and,  if 
wisely  interpreted,  they  include  its  remainder.  *'  Be 
thou  strong,  .  .  .  and  shew  thyself  a  man  "  ! — a  fully- 
developed,  well-rounded,  complete  man  ;  every  power 
in  play,  every  high  possibility  attained.  What  more 
could  David  ask  of  Solomon  ? 

And  who  had  a  better  right  than  David  to  summon 
others  to  manliness  ?  He  was  himself  a  man, — a 
man  all  over,  and  through  and  through, — perhaps  the 
truest  type  of  simple  manhood  the  world  has  known ; 
a  man  after  God's  own  heart,  and  in  very  much  a 
man  after  man's  own  heart :  "  David  the  son  of  Jesse, 
.  .  .  the  man  who  was  raised  up  on  high,  the  anointed 
of  the  God  of  Jacob,  and  the  sweet  psalmist  of  Israel " 
(2  Sam.  23  :  i). 

Never,  besides,  was  there  a  mere  man  who  so  well 
as  David  "  knew  what  was  in  man,"  and  what  it  was 
to  be  a  man.  It  were  better  said  of  David  than  of 
that  other  grand  old  patriarch  : 

151 


152  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Lo7ig  March 

"  This  was  the  truest  warrior 

That  ever  buckled  sword, 
This  the  most  gifted  poet 

That  ever  breathed  a  word  ; 
And  never  earth's  philosopher 

Traced  with  his  golden  pen, 
On  the  deathless  page,  truths  half  so  sage, 

As  he  wrote  down  for  men."  ^ 

As  "  the  days  of  David  drew  nigh  that  he  should 
die,"  he  turned  himself  on  his  couch,  to  his  son  and 
royal  heir,  and  in  parting-  command  to  him  who  must 
represent  his  family  and  kingly  glory,  declared  :  "  I 
go  the  way  of  all  the  earth  :  be  thou  strong  there- 
fore, and  shew  thyself  a  man  " — I  die.  Consider  my 
story.  Shun  my  follies.  Be  encouraged  by  my  suc- 
cesses. Have  my  courage  and  faith.  And  do  a  better 
— 'because  completer — work  than  mine. 

"  So  David  slept  with  his  fathers ;  "  but  his  dying 
words  ring  down  through  the  ages,  and  sound  in  this 
room  to-day,  as  the  call  of  God  to  each  one  of  you, 
young  men :  "  Be  thou  strong,  .  .  .  and  shew  thyself 
a  man"  !  God  asks  no  child  of  his  to  be  /c'ss  than  a 
man,  and  he  demands  of  none  in  this  life  to  be  any- 
thing 7;iore. 

"  Shew  thyself  a  man  "  !  That  is  the  call  that  I 
reiterate  to  each  of  you  :  not  merely  be  a  saint,  ready 
for  heaven,  but  be  a  man,  fitted  for  earth's  duties. 
My  appeal  to  you  is  not  from  the  conviction  that  you 
must  die,  but  from  the  thought  that  you  may  /we.  I 
do  not  so  urge  you  to  prepare  for  any  future,  as  I  do 

*  Mrs.  Alexander's  "  Burial  of  Moses.'* 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Shidents        1 5  3 

entreat  you  to  fill  your  place  in  the  present.  *'  I  have 
written  unto  you,  young  men,"  said  the  beloved  apos- 
tle, "because  ye  are  strong  "  (i  John  2  :  14);  and  as 
St.  John's  follower  in  the  faith,  I  preach  unto  you, 
young  men,  because  you  are  strong,  and  I  want  you 
to  use  your  strength  manfully. 

Be  strong  and  be  men  at  all  times  and  in  every- 
thing,—in  your  studies  and  in  your  social  life,  in  your 
recreations  and  in  your  worship.  "  David  danced 
before  the  Lord  with  all  his  might "  (2  Sam.  6  :  14). 
If  you  must  dance,  that  is  the  way  to  do  it, — before 
the  Lord,  and  with  all  your  might !  And  David 
prepared  with  all  his  might  for  the  house  of  his  God 
(i  Chron.  29  :  2).  His  manfulness,  his  wholeness  of 
soul,  showed  itself  in  all  his  actions. 

"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  .  .  .  with  all 
thy  might"  (Deut.  6  :  5)  is  "  the  first  and  great  com- 
mandment ;  "  and  many  that  follow  are  *'  like  unto  it  " 
(Matt.  22  :  38,  39).  "  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth 
to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might "  (Eccl.  9  :  10),  said  the 
inspired  Preacher.  And  St.  Paul  added,  **  Whatso- 
ever ye  do,  do  it  heartily  "  (Col.  3  :  23).  Said  the 
good  John  Joseph  Gurney,  writing  to  his  son  at 
school :  **  Be  a  whole  man  to  everything.  At  Latin, 
be  a  whole  man  to  Latin.  At  geometry  or  his- 
tory, be  a  whole  man  to  geometry  or  history.  At 
play,  be  a  whole  man  to  play.  At  washing  or  dress- 
ing, be  a  whole  man  to  washing  or  dressing.  Above 
all,  at  meeting  [Gurney  was  a  Quaker],  be  a  whole 
man  to  meeting." 


154  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

It  was  said  of  Lord  Brougham,  that  "  if  his  station 
in  life  had  been  only  that  of  a  shoeblack,  he  would 
never  have  rested  satisfied  until  he  had  become  the  best 
shoeblack  in  England."  Thus  always  with  true  man- 
liness,— it  will  show  itself  as  surely  in  one  sphere  as  in 
another.  The  student  who  heeds  the  inspired  injunc- 
tion of  the  text,  will  be  a  man  alike  at  play,  at  study, 
and  at  prayer, — in  the  culture  of  body,  mind,  and  of 
spirit. 

7.  In  the  care  of  the  body,  show  thyself  a  man. 

Bodily  vigor  is  hardly  less  a  Christian  attainment 
than  it  is  a  source  of  manly  pride.  God  has  ever 
honored  this  in  its  place,  as  a  possession  and  a  charge 
of  his  children.  The  record  stands  of  the  first  leader 
of  God's  peculiar  people  that  he  was  "  a  goodly  child  " 
(Exod.  2  :  2),  and  that  when  he  was  an  hundred  and 
twenty  years  old  "  his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  nat- 
ural force  abated  "  (Deut.  34  :  7).  And  of  the  first 
king  of  that  nation,  God  declares  that  he  was  "  a 
choice  young  man,  and  a  goodly :  and  there  was  not 
among  the  children  of  Israel  a  goodlier  person  than 
he :  from  his  shoulders  and  upward  he  was  higher 
than  any  of  the  people  "  (i  Sam.  9  :  2). 

That  which  bringeth  "  redness  of  eyes,"  or  "  wounds 
without  cause  "  (Prov.  23  :  29),  or  pallor  of  cheek,  or 
weakness  of  limb,  is  as  well  a  sin  as  a  shame.  '*  Your 
body,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
.  .  .  Therefore  glorify  God  in  your  body  "  (i  Cor.  6  : 
19,  20).     "  The  glory  of  young  men  is  their  strength  " 


My  Chaplaincy  A77iong  Students        155 

(Prov.  20  :  29),  says  Solomon.  Beware,  then,  young 
man,  lest,  like  Esau,  in  an  evil  hour  of  weakness  and 
desire,  you  barter  for  a  mess  of  pottage  your  birth- 
right of  glory  by  indulgence  in  what  lessens  your 
strength  and  diminishes  your  manliness. 

The  expressive  adjective  **  stalwart "  is  but  the  old 
Saxon  "  stael-weordh," — worth  stealing,  good  for 
something ;  leaving  the  unwelcome  inference  that  he 
who  is  a  not  stalwart  man  is  not  worth  having  at  any 
price. 

**  It  was  there  that  the  battle  of  Waterloo  was  won  !  " 
said  the  Iron  Duke,  pointing,  in  his  later  years,  to  the 
playground  at  Eton,  where  his  own  great  strength 
had  been  early  developed.  And  Waterloo  was  not 
the  only  one  of  earth's  struggles  that  hinged  on  the 
power  of  physical  endurance. 

Genius  itself  has  been  defined  as  "  the  capacity  for 
an  unlimited  amount  of  work."  It  is  certainly  true 
that  a  man's  mental  activity  and  freeness  are  largely 
dependent  on  his  bodily  condition.  **  There  can 
scarcely  be  a  diseased  or  abnormal  condition  of  any 
organ  in  the  human  system  that  will  not  have  some 
influence  upon  the  mind,"  says  a  distinguished  New 
England  physician. 

Even  in  the  highest  spiritual  life,  a  man  is  not  lifted 
above  the  power  of  his  body  to  affect  his  happiness. 
God's  grace  delights  in  his  temples  when  they  are 
kept  undefiled  for  himself,  with  strength  and  beauty 
as  their  supports.  Says  one  of  our  quaintest  and 
most  eloquent  American  divines :    "  Dyspepsia    and 


156  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

disordered  bile  and  imperfect  secretions  are  foul 
fiends,  all  of  them,  and  calomel  and  quinine  have  an 
apostolic  calling  to  the  casting  out  of  devils.  Medi- 
cine is  ofttimes  a  very  means  of  grace — and  a  wise 
physician  better  for  the  soul  than  a  whole  sanhedrin 
of  ministers."  ^ 

2.  But,  if  your  bodily  development  is  a  duty  as  a 
7naii^  your  rneutal  ctdture  is  not  less  so. 

When  Solomon,  as  Israel's  king,  sought  to  conform 
to  his  father's  injunction  in  our  text,  and  to  show 
himself  a  man,  he  asked  of  the  Lord  zvisdom  as  the 
first  requisite  for  his  sphere.  "  And  the  speech  pleased 
the  Lord,  that  Solomon  had  asked  this  thing"  (i 
Kings  3  :  10);  and  the  king's  fame  was  thenceforward 
greater,  because  of  his  wisdom  than  for  his  wealth 
and  glory.  And  Solomon's  testimony  as  to  the  bless- 
ings of  knowledge  was :  "  Understanding  is  a  well- 
spring  of  life  unto  him  that  hath  it  "  (Prov.  16  :  22); 
and  "  The  man  that  wandereth  out  of  the  way  of  un- 
derstanding shall  remain  in  the  congregation  of  the 
dead  "  (Prov.  21  :  16). 

Bodily  strength  will  avail  you  but  little  in  practical 
life,  if  there  is  no  mental  control  of  it.  The  muscular 
and  brainless  athlete,  whose  image  stares  from  the 
circus  show-bill,  would  hardly  pass  for  a  model  man 
anywhere.  "  Wisdom  is  better  than  strength  "  (Eccl. 
9  :  16).  It  is  only  to  your  shame  if,  while  in  the 
"  first  nine  "  of  the  ball  club,  you  are  in  the  last  three 

1  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Wadsworth, 


My  ChaplauLcy  Among  Students        157 


of  your  Greek  division.  If  book-men  look  down  on 
you,  the  cheers  of  the  boating  crowd  ought  to  give 
you  httle  comfort.  And  you  may  well  blush  if  the 
younger  classmate,  who  envied  your  power  in  the 
"  giant-swing  "  of  the  gymnasium,  dwarfs  your  class 
performance  in  the  natural  sciences.  In  the  long  run, 
the  good  scholar  outstrips  the  fine  gymnast.  For  the 
race  of  life,  he  whose  head  is  level  is  better  fitted  than 
he  whose  legs  are  strong. 

Whatever  is  to  be  your  future  occupation  in  life, 
you  must  be  largely  dependent  for  success  on  your 
brain-power.  In  the  higher  intellectual  walks,  this  is 
obviously  true.  It  is  scarcely  less  so  in  the  lower 
spheres  of  effort.  *'  The  best  preparation  for  special 
pursuits,"  said  President  Hill  of  Harvard,  "  is  a  gen- 
eral education.  It  was  in  defense  of  this  doctrine  that 
Horace  Mann  brought  forward  the  striking  fact  .  .  . 
that  the  wages  earned  by  piece-work  in  a  cloth  mill 
were  in  proportion  to  the  time  previously  spent  by 
the  operative  in  studying  arithmetic  and  geography 
and  grammar.  Similar  statistics  to  show  the  advan- 
tages of  general  education  in  special  pursuits  might 
doubtless  be  gathered  in  other  departments  of  labor." 

It  may  be  doubted,  for  instance,  if  A.  T.  Stewart, 
the  humble  Irish  lad,  would  have  come  to  be  the  first 
American  merchant  of  his  day  if  he  had  not  stood 
first  in  his  class  at  Dublin  University.  William  B. 
Astor,  as  the  son  of  the  richest  man  of  his  generation 
in  this  country,  would  hardly  have  held  and  multi- 
plied his  inherited  wealth — in  exception  to  the  general 


58  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


course  of  sons  of  rich  men — so  as  to  be  himself  now 
foremost  among  our  millionaires,  if  it  were  not  for  the 
benefits  of  his  college  training.  An  inside  look  at 
the  most  notorious  firm  of  gold  gamblers  and  railroad 
swindlers  in  all  our  land,  ^  would  show  that  the  obvious 
coxcombery  and  knavishness  of  the  senior  partner 
were  pushed  into  a  power  they  could  not  otherwise 
attain  to  through  the  disciplined  intellect  of  an  un- 
principled Harvard  graduate — a  less-known  member 
of  the  firm. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  says  truly:  **  If  a  man  has 
nothing  to  do  but  turn  a  grindstone,  he  had  better  be 
educated ;  if  a  man  has  nothing  to  do  but  to  stick 
pins  on  a  paper,  he  had  better  be  educated ;  if  he  has 
to  sweep  the  streets,  he  had  better  be  educated.  It 
makes  no  difference  what  you  do,  you  will  do  it  better 
if  you  are  educated." 

Understand,  therefore,  and  appreciate  the  practical 
value  of  a  good  education,  you  who  are  yet  under- 
graduates, and  see  that  you  make  the  most  of  every 
instructor,  every  recitation,  every  help  to  mental  im- 
provement. Do  not  commit  the  folly  of  counting 
your  instructor  and  yourself  as  puUing  at  opposite  ends 
of  a  rope,  or  as  opponents  in  a  sharply-contested  game, 
where  an  advantage  over  him  by  shirking, ''  ponying," 
or  deception,  inures  to  your  profit;  but  look  at  him, 
rather,  as  your  senior  partner,  whose  experience  and 
knowledge  furnish  capital  for  your  use  and  benefit, 
and  whose  interests  are  so  linked  with  your  own  as 

I  "  Jim  "  Fisk  &  Co. 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Students        159 

to  ensure  to  you  his  sympathy  and  hearty  assistance 
in  all  your  intellectual  endeavors.  Remember  that — 
at  all  events,  in  the  study  hours  and  at  recitation — 
"  Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing ;  therefore  get  wisdom : 
and  with  all  thy  getting  get  understanding.  .  .  .  Take 
fast  hold  of  instruction  ;  let  her  not  go  :  keep  her ; 
for  she  is  thy  life  "  (Prov.  4  :  7-13). 

J.  But,  with   body   and  mind  both   cared  for,  your 

sold,  or  spirit,  must  not  be  7ieglected  if  you  would  sJioiv 

yourself  a  man, — a  man,  I  mean,  in  the  present  life, 

leaving  out  for  the  time  all  consideration  of  the  eternal 

future. 

Some  one  has  forcibly  suggested  that  it  is  not  wise 
for  us  to  say  that  we  have  souls ;  for  the  truth  is  we 
are  souls,  and  have  bodies.  There  is  a  sermon  in  the 
mere  title  of  a  modern  work  on  "  The  Human  Body 
and  Its  Connection  with  Man."  Our  souls,  or  our 
spirits,  are  our  immortal  selves.  Ourselves — our 
inner  being — must  be  well  considered  in  efforts  at 
personal  culture.  As  a  man  ''thinketh  in  his  heart, 
so  is  he  "  (Prov.  23  :  7).  *'  It  is  character,"  says  one 
of  our  best  American  essayists,  ^  "  which  gives  author- 
ity to  opinions,  puts  virile  meaning  into  words,  and 
burns  its  way  through  impediments  insurmountable 
to  the  large  in  brain  who  are  weak  in  heart."  As 
good  Dr.  Joel  Hawes,  my  own  revered  pastor,  de- 
clared, "  Character  is  the  measure  of  the  man, — is, 
indeed,   the   man.      He   is   what   his   character   is." 

1 E.  P.  Whipple. 


1 60  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

Hence  the  force  of  Solomon's  injunction,  "  Keep  thy 
heart  with  all  diligence;  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues 
of  life  "  (Prov.  4  :  23). 

There  is  no  pure  life,  no  high-toned  manliness,  to 
one  whose  heart  is  not  pure,  whose  conscience  is  not 
high-toned.  Said  Edmund  Burke,  in  his  plea  against 
Warren  Hastings  :  "  I  never  knew  a  man  who  was  bad, 
fit  for  service  that  was  good.  .  .  .  The  man  seems  par- 
alytic on  that  side,  his  muscles  there  have  lost  their 
very  tone  and  character, — they  can  not  move.  In 
short,  the  accomplishment  of  anything  good  is  a 
physical  impossibility  for  such  a  man."  "  A  good 
man  out  of  the  good  treasure  of  the  heart  bringeth 
forth  good  things :  and  an  evil  man  out  of  the  evil 
treasure  bringeth  forth  evil  things  "  (Matt.  12  :  35). 

And  the  character  which  comes  out  of  a  cleansed 
heart  is  good  capital  for  the  business  of  every-day 
life.  Even  for  present  dividends,  "A  good  name  is 
rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches  "  (Prov.  22  :  i). 
"  That  character  is  power,  is  true  in  a  much  higher 
sense  than  that  knowledge  is  power."  ^  It  gives  influ- 
ence. It  secures  remuneration.  Says  a  well-known 
English  writer:^  "Of  two  poets,  otherwise  equal,  the 
Christian  is  the  greater ;  of  two  statesmen,  the  Chris- 
tian attains  the  more  permanent  fame;  of  two  artists 
equally  gifted,  the  Christian  takes  the  higher  place; 
of  two  merchants  equally  practical  and  far-seeing,  the 
Christian  reaches  the  surest  success." 

And  the  honored  president   of   Yale  University^ 

1  Samuel  Smiles.  2  William  Guest.  3  Theodore  Woolsey. 


My  Chaplaincy  Ainong  Students        i6i 


said  of  him  who  would  be  a  true  gentleman :  ''  It 
is  true,  and  a  most  important  truth,  that  none, 
however  highly  endowed  by  nature,  and  however 
lofty  in  his  aims,  can  be  a  true  gentleman,  in  the  high- 
est sense  of  the  term,  without  that  spirit  of  piety,  and 
that  sense  of  obligation  toward  God,  by  which,  more 
than  by  all  things  else,  men  are  assisted  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  duties  to  one  another."^  What  more 
attractive,  manly  model  is  found  in  English  history 
than  Sir  Philip  Sidney  ?  That  which  gave  him  pre- 
eminence, while  yet  a  youth  of  twenty-one,  as  "  the 
ornament  and  boast  of  the  splendid  court  of  Eliza- 
beth," was  rather  character  than  genius.  As  soldier, 
as  statesman,  as  poet,  and  as  wit,  he  had  not  only 
peers  but  superiors ;  but  ''  in  the  singular  beauty  of 
his  [Christian]  life,"  he  had  no  contemporary  rival. 

Thus  down  to  the  present  day  "  the  world,  despite 
its  apparent  indifference,  is  never  insensible  to  the 
beauty  of  a  Christian  life,  to  the  dignity  of  a  virtuous 
and  spotless  character."  ^  Such  a  character  is  at  a 
premium  even  in  Wall  street,  whatever  sneers  may 
there  be  indulged  at  hypocritical  professions.  It  is 
but  a  little  time  ago  that  the  sharpest  knaves  there 
were  giving  in  excuse  for  their  being  duped  by  a  new- 
comer, that  he  was  the  son  of  a  Christian  minister, 
and  they  rested  on  his  likeness  to  a  godly  father. 

Hon.  Amasa  Walker,  in  his  classification  of  wages 
as  a  politico-economist,  puts  as  highest  and  in  great- 
est demand,  moral  power, — ''the  power  which   gives 

1  New  Englander,  Oct.,  1847.  ^  Record  of  Noble  Deeds. 


1 62   Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


["a  man]  such  a  control  over  the  appetites,  passions, 
and  propensities  as  affords  assurance  that  under  no 
circumstances  of  trial  or  temptation  will  he  ever  depart 
from  the  strictest  line  of  duty  ;  "  and  he  adds,  that  "  as 
such  men  are  more  rare  than  those  having  only  physi- 
cal power,  or  physical  and  mental  power  combined, 
they  will  command  higher  rewards, — the  highest 
paid  for  any  class  of  services."  It  is  God's  truth, 
verified  in  man's  uniform  experience,  that  "  godhness 
is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come" 
(i  Tim.  4  :  8). 

But  character  can  be  secured,  and  godliness  attained, 
only  through  heart-strengthening  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  through  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

As  the  body  comes  naked  into  the  world,  and  must 
be  clothed  from  without  to  bring  comfort  or  to  con- 
form to  decency,  so  the  soul  enters  the  world  in  naked- 
ness, and  must  be  clothed  upon  with  the  righteousness 
of  the  Crucified  One  :  wherefore,  young  men,  "  put 
ye  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  (Rom.  13  :  14),  else 
your  souls  will  stand  stark,  shivering,  shameful.  If 
you  have  not  yet  been  clothed  with  a  new  soul-gar- 
ment, you  have  not  yet  begun  to  truly  live  ;  you  are 
not  a  full  man  in  any  proper  sense. 

"  The  head  of  every  man  is  Christ "  (i  Cor.  11:13), 
and  none  *'  stand  complete  "  except  "  in  him  ;  "  or,  as 
it  has  been  paraphrased  by  the  poet : 

"A  Christian  is  the  highest  style  of  man."  ^ 
1  Edward  Young. 


My  Chaplaincy  Amo7ig  Students        1 63 

"  Be  thou  strong  therefore,  and  [thus]  shew  thyself 
a  man  " ! 

Aye!  "  Be  thou  strojtg,''  for  it  requires  strength  to 
show  one's  self  a  man.  Strength  is  needed  to  get  up 
early  in  the  morning, — not  to  say,  when  the  clock 
strikes  or  "  chum  "  calls,  **  Yet  a  little  sleep,  a  litde 
slumber,  a  little  folding  of  the  hands  to  sleep  "  (Prov. 
6  :  10).  Strength  is  needed  to  go  to  bed  at  a  proper 
hour,  to  walk  merely  for  exercise,  to  bathe  merely 
for  health,  to  eat  and  drink  only  what  is  proper,  and 
that  at  proper  times ;  to  turn  away  when  the  soul  has 
appetite  from  the  sparkling  wine  which  is  red,  and 
"  giveth  its  color  "  temptingly  in  the  cup ;  to  shun  in 
the  full  flush  of  youthful  passion  her  who  "  Heth  in 
wait  as  for  a  prey,  and  increaseth  the  transgressors 
among  men;"  to  resist  insane  impulses  to  defile  and 
destroy  one's  own  body;  to  keep  clear  of  the  gam- 
bling group,  with  its  exhausting  excitements  and  its 
ruinous  impellings ;  to  maintain  good  resolutions,  to 
break  up  old  habits  of  indulgence,  to  trample  on 
suddenly  sprung  temptations ;  **  For  the  flesh  lusteth 
against  the  Spirit :  .  .  .  and  these  are  contrary  the  one 
to  the  other  "  (Gal  5  :  17) ;  and  you  see  a  law  in  your 
members,  warring  against  the  law  of  your  minds,  and 
bringing  you  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin,  which  is 
in  your  members  (Rom.  7  :  23),  and  you  must  fight 
or  die. 

Yet  fight  you  may,  in  sure  hope  of  victory ;  for  in 
the  battles  of  every-day  life  no  true  man — young 
or  old — is  the  devil's  prisoner  unless  by  surrender. 


1 64  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

"God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be 
tempted  above  that  ye  are  able ;  but  will  with  the 
temptation  also  make  a  way  to  escape,  that  ye  may 
be  able  to  bear  it"  (i  Cor.  10  :  13).  And  added 
strength  shall  be  yours  through  each  new  victory  in 
your  daily  life-struggle.  He  who  successfully  com- 
bats temptation,  compacts  and  hardens  thereby  his 
moral  muscles;  and  with  every  succeeding  triumph 
his  eye  flashes  fresh  brightness,  and  his  firmer  tread 
and  nobler  bearing  proclaim  him  more  the  man 
than  ever. 

Good  soldiers  are  never  made  without  hard  fight- 
ing. The  grand  Old  Guard  of  Napoleon  grew  into 
glory  by  their  service  and  their  successes.  It  is  said 
of  them :  "  Nothing  like  them  was  ever  seen  when 
they  advanced,  carrying  arms ;  with  their  great  caps, 
white  waistcoats  and  gaiters,  they  all  looked  just 
alike,  and  you  could  plainly  see  'twas  the  emperor's 
right  arm  moving.  He  looked  upon  his  Guard  as 
upon  his  own  flesh  and  blood ;  he  could  always  re- 
place thirty  or  forty  thousand  men  by  conscription  ; 
but  to  have  another  such  Guard  he  must  commence 
at  twenty-five,  and  gain  fifty  victories,  and  what  re- 
mained of  the  best,  most  solid,  and  toughest,  would 
be  the  Guard."  ^ 

So  of  those  who  fi^ht  the  s^ood  fifjht  daily  with 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  keeping  the  faith 
in  their  great  Captain  !  Their  enemies  only  help 
them  to  more  of  soldierly  manhood. 

^  Erckmann-Chatrian. 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Students        165 


"  Saint  Augustine  !  well  hast  thou  said, 

That  of  our  vices  we  can  frame 
A  ladder,  if  we  will  but  tread 

Beneath  our  feet  each  deed  of  shame  ! 
All  common  things,  each  day's  events, 

That  with  the  hour  begin  and  end, 
Our  pleasures  and  our  discontents, 

Are  rounds  by  which  we  may  ascend."  * 

Or,  as  Job  declared  it:  "The  righteous  also  shall 
hold  on  his  way,  and  he  that  hath  clean  hands  shall 
be  stronger  and  stronger"  (Job  17  :  9). 

On  the  contrary,  every  yielding  to  evil  weakens  the 
tempted  one.  He  who  has  been  worsted  in  one  fight 
is  in  poorer  plight  for  the  next.  And  no  enemy  is  so 
formidable  as  the  one  with  whom  a  man  has  already 
made  terms.  "  A  comparatively  brief  and  moderate 
indulgence  in  vicious  pleasures  appears  to  lower  the 
tone  and  impair  both  the  delicacy  and  efficiency  of 
the  brain  for  life,"  says  as  practical  and  sensible  a 
writer  as  James  Parton. 

He  who  spake  "as  never  man  spake,"  declared  that 
"  that  [of  sin]  which  cometh  out  of  the  mouth,  this 
defileth  a  man"  (Matt.  15  :  1 1),— not  merely  proves 
his  inner  defilement,  but  promotes  it  externally.  "We 
should  take  care  of  the  beginning  of  sin,"  says  Bishop 
Wilson.  "Venture  all  on  the  first  attempt.  Die 
rather  than  yield  one  single  step,"  adds  Dr.  Owen. 

A  man  never  gets  fairly  over  his  first  debauch. 
One  dass  too  much  of  alcoholic  drinks  will  some- 
times  cause  a  man's  conscience — if  not  his  bram — to 

1  Longfellow. 


1 66  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


reel  for  a  lifetime.  Once  going  in  the  way  of  forbid- 
den indulgence  may  prove  a  permanent  harm  to  char- 
acter and  to  peace  of  soul.  Yet  temptation  to  these 
sins  will  come  to  you  as  a  college  student.  You  can- 
not evade  the  struggle,  but  in  divinely  given  strength 
you  can  avoid  defeat. 

"  Not  from  the  strife  itself  to  set  thee  free, 

But  more  to  nerve — doth  Victory 
.    Wave  her  rich  garland  from  the  Ideal  chme."  * 

To  those  who  face  temptation  for  the  first  time,  and  to 
those  who  meet  its  renewed  attacks,  the  call  of  God 
is  repeated,  "  Be  strong,  and  quit  yourselves  like  men  : 
. . .  quit  yourselves  like  men,  and  fight  "  (i  Sam.  4  :  9). 

As  a  practical  matter,  you  should  understand  that 
in  the  training  of  your  intellect  more,  by  far,  depends 
on  your  strength — your  determination  and  persever- 
ance— than  on  any  native  endowments  or  adventitious 
help  of  surroundings.  No  man  bounds  up  the  hill 
of  science  with  running  jumps,  impelled  by  his  genius. 
That  ascent  is  made  only  by  straightforward  heel- 
and-toe  walking,  and  in  the  toilsome  travel  a  resolute 
will  is  worth  more  than  a  colossal  brain. 

"  If  I  have  done  the  public  any  service,"  said  Sir 
Isaac  Newton,  "  it  is  due  to  nothing  but  industry  and 
patient  thought."  And  Elihu  Burritt  adds,  "  All  that 
I  have  accomplished,  or  expect  or  hope  to  accom- 
plish, has  been  and  will  be  by  that  plodding,  patient, 
persevering  process  of  accretion  which  builds  the  ant 
heap — particle  by  particle,  thought  by  thought,  fact 

1  Bulwer's  Schiller. 


My  Chaplaincy  Amorig  Students        167 

by  fact."  Said  Charles  Dickens,  on  this  point,  *'  My 
own  invention  or  imagination,  such  as  it  is,  I  can 
most  truthfully  assure  you,  would  never  have  served 
me  as  it  has  but  for  the  habit  of  common-place,  hum- 
ble, patient,  daily  toiling,  drudging  attention."  Buffon 
said  of  genius,  *'  It  is  patience."  Sir  Joshua  Rey- 
nolds held  that  excellence,  even  in  high  art,  "  however 
expressed  by  genius,  taste,  or  the  gift  of  heaven,  may 
be  acquired  ;  "  and  Michel  Angelo  believed  the  same 
as  to  sculpture.  Said  Beethoven,  "  The  barriers  are 
not  erected  which  can  say  to  aspiring  talents  and  in- 
dustry, *  Thus  far  and  no  farther.'  " 

Sydney  Smith  declared  characteristically,  "  I  am 
convinced  that  a  man  might  sit  down  as  systemati- 
cally and  as  successfully  to  the  study  of  wit  as  he 
might  to  the  study  of  mathematics ;  and  I  would 
answer  for  it,  that,  by  giving  up  only  six  hours  a  day 
to  being  witty,  he  should  come  on  prodigiously  before 
midsummer,  so  that  his  friends  should  hardly  know 
him  again."  Giardini  thought  that  the  violin  could 
be  played  by  any  man  who  would  give  twelve  hours 
a  day  to  it  for  twenty  years ;  and  there  is  an  air  of 
probability  about  that  simple  statement,  for  in  all  in- 
tellectual acquirements  *'  the  hand  of  the  diligent 
maketh  rich  "  (Prov.  10:4),  and  "  the  soul  of  the  dili- 
gent shall  be  made  fat "  (Prov.  13  :  4). 

Thomas  Jackson's  (A.  D.  1647)  lesson  from  the 
pawn's  progress  to  the  king-row  in  the  Game  of 
Chess,  of  two  centuries  ago,  is  as  full  of  truth  for  the 
student  now  as  then. 


1 6S  SJioes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


"  A  lowly  one  I  saw, 
With  aim  fixt  high  ; 
Ne  to  the  right,  ne  to  the  left,  veering, 
He  marched  by  his  law. 
The  crested  knight  passed  by, 
And  haughty  surplice  vest ; 
But  onward,  toward  his  hest, 
With  patient  step,  he  pressed  ; 
Steadfast  his  eye. 
Now,  lo  !  the  last  door  yieldeth, 
A  crown  his  forehead  shieldeth, 
His  hand  a  scepter  wieldeth. 

"  So  mergeth  the  true  hearted, 
With  aim  fixt  high, 
From  place  obscure  and  lowly : 
Veereth  he  nought. — 
His  work  is  wrought  : — 
How  many  loyal  paths  be  trod, 
So  many  royal  crowns  hath  God." 

Sure  it  is  that  the  more  distinguished  men  in  every 
department  of  mental  effort  have  exercised  wondrous 
patience  in  their  best  work.  Newton  wrote  his  Chron- 
ology fifteen  times  over  before  it  satisfied  him,  and 
Gibbon  his  Memoir  nine  times.  Montesquieu  said  to 
a  friend,  of  one  of  his  writings,  "  You  will  read  it  in 
a  few  hours  ;  but  I  assure  you  it  cost  me  so  much 
labor  that  it  has  whitened  my  hair."  Titian,  in  a  letter 
to  Charles  V.,  wrote,  "  I  send  your  Majesty  the  Last 
Supper,  after  working  at  it  almost  daily  for  seven 
years."  Jenner  spent  twenty-three  years  on  his  theory 
of  vaccination  before  issuing  his  first  treatise  concern- 
ing it.     Humboldt  sent  the  outline  of  his  Cosmos  to 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Students        1 69 


a  friend  just  sixty-six  years  before  he  forwarded  its 
last  sheets  to  the  printer. 

Lord   Brougham   said  to  Zachary  Macauley   that 
he  wrote  the  peroration  to  his  speech  in  defense  of 
Queen  CaroHne,  perhaps  his  most  effective  passage  of 
oratory,  at  least  twenty  times,  and   after  he  had  for 
weeks    been    reading    and    meditating  over    Demos- 
thenes.    Tom  Moore  told  Washington  Irving  that  he 
had  hunted  six  weeks  for  one  word  to   complete  his 
last  song.     Said  Daniel  Webster  to  Pitt  Fessenden,  of 
his  own  more  brilliant  forensic  utterances :  ''  Do  you 
suppose  these  terse  sayings  were  made  from  the  spur 
of  the  moment  ?     By  no  means  ;  they  were  the  result 
of  study,— and  close  study,  too.  .  .  .  The  words  which 
so   fitly  represent  England's   power,  so  often  quoted, 
and  so   much   praised,  were   strung  together  while  I 
stood  on  the  American  side  of  the  river,  near  Niagara 
Falls,  and  heard  the  British   drums  beaten   on   the 
Canada  side." 

If  more  young  men  would  do  the  hard  work  of 
genius,  there  would  be  more  results  of  genius  in  the 
world  to  rejoice  over. 

"  The  prize  can  but  belong 
To  him  whose  valor  o'er  his  tribe  prevails ; 
In  hfe,  the  victory  only  crowns  the  strong — 
He  who  is  feeble  fails."  ^ 

"The  difference  between  boys,"  said  Arnold  of 
Rugby,  "  consists  not  so  much  in  talent  as  in  energy." 
"The  truest  wisdom,"  said   Napoleon,  "  is  a  resolute 

1  Bulwer's   Schiller. 


T  70  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


determination."  Sir  Fowell  Buxton  wrote,  towards 
the  close  of  his  useful  life:  "The  longer  I  live,  the 
more  I  am  certain  that  the  great  difference  between 
men,  between  the  feeble  and  the  powerful,  is  energy — 
invincible  determination — a  purpose  once  fixed,  and 
then  death  or  victory.  That  quality  will  do  anything 
that  can  be  done  in  this  world ;  and  no  talents,  no  cir- 
cumstances, no  opportunities,  will  make  a  two-legged 
creature  a  man  without  it."  Buxton  held,  moreover, 
that  any  man  could  do  what  any  other  man  had  done, 
provided  he  merely  gave  more  time  and  energy  to  it, 
to  overcome  his  disadvantage  of  natural  lack.  The 
history  of  many  of  the  world's  great  ones  tends  to 
confirm  the  views  of  such  thinkers. 

Daniel  Webster  said  of  himself,  at  Exeter  Academy: 
'*  There  was  one  thing  I  could  not  do.  I  could  not 
make  a  declamation.  I  could  not  speak  before  the 
school.  ...  I  never  could  command  sufficient  resolu- 
tion." Yet  when  he  applied  the  long  passive  will, 
Daniel  Webster  made  a  very  reputable  public  speaker. 
That  ought  to  be  encouraging  to  the  average  student. 
Disraeli  was  laughed  down  when  he  made  his  first 
speech  in  the  House  of  Commons.  He  said  deter- 
minedly, when  he  found  he  could  not  go  on :  "I  shall 
sit  down  now,  but  the  time  will  come  when  you  will 
hear  me."  He  was,  by  and  by,  the  eloquent  leader  of 
that  same  House  of  Commons,  and  in  fact  of  all  Europe. 

In  1759,  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan,  as  a  pupil, 
"  was,  by  common  consent,  both  of  parent  and  pre- 
ceptor,  pronounced    to    be    'a    most    impenetrable 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Students        1 7 1 

dunce.'"  Twenty-one  years  later  the  struggling  dunce 
essayed  his  first  speech  in  Parliament.  So  poor  was 
then  his  success  that  a  fi-iend  told  him  frankly,  to  his 
face,  that  oratory  was  evidently  not  in  his  line.  Sher- 
idan rested  his  head  on  his  hand  for  a  few  minutes  in 
thought,  and  then  in  vehement  assertion  of  manly  re- 
solve, he  cried,  *'  It  is  in  me,  how^ever,  and  [with  an 
oath]  it  sJiall  come  out."  It  w^as  seven  years  from 
then  that  the  '*  impenetrable  dunce  "  delivered  his  cel- 
ebrated speech  against  Warren  Hastings,  ''  whose 
effect  upon  its  hearers,"  says  Tom  Moore,  in  the  biog- 
raphy of  Sheridan,  "  has  no  parallel  in  the  annals  of 
ancient  or  modern  eloquence."  Edmund  Burke  de- 
clared that  speech  to  be  "  the  most  astonishing  effort 
of  eloquence,  argument  and  wit  united,  of  which  there 
was  any  record  or  tradition."  Charles  James  Fox 
said,  "  All  that  he  had  ever  heard,  all  that  he  had  ever 
read,  when  compared  with  it,  dwindled  into  nothing, 
and  vanished  like  vapor  before  the  sun."  And  Wil- 
liam Pitt  acknowledged  "  that  it  surpassed  all  the  elo- 
quence of  ancient  and  modern  times,  and  possessed 
everything  that  genius  or  art  could  furnish,  to  agitate 
and  control  the  human  mind."  ^ 

Could  any  of  you  do  better  than  that,  young  men  ? 
Some  of  you  have  as  good  a  start  as  he  had.  Deter- 
mination gave  that  dunce  power. 

Adam  Clarke  w^as  another  "  grievous  dunce  "  until 
his  teacher  dismissed  him  from  the  class  in  disgrace, 
and  his   seat-mate   taunted   him    with    his    stupidity. 

iSee  Memoirs  of  Sheridan. 


1 7  2   Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

Then  he  was  fairly  aroused,  feehng,  as  he  expressed 
it,  "as  if  something  had  broken  within  him,"  "Shall 
I  ever  be  a  dunce,  and  the  butt  of  these  fellows'  in- 
sults ?  "  he  asked.  Snatching  up  a  book,  he  started 
on  the  road  to  manhood.  Neither  his  capacity  nor 
his  progress  has  ever  been  questioned  since  then. 
Isaac  Newton  was  backward  in  all  his  school  studies 
until  an  overbearing  comrade  was  cruel  enough  to 
kick  him  in  the  stomach.  This  fired  him  with  indig- 
nant courage,  and  he  determined  on  revenge  through 
superior  scholarship.  He  never  halted  thenceforward 
in  the  race  of  life  until  he  had  distanced  every  one  of 
his  fellows,  and  stood  the  foremost  man  on  earth.  It 
would  be  a  sore  temptation  to  make  a  similar  appli- 
cation to  many  a  sluggish  student  if  one  were  sure 
that  he  could  thus  be  surely  projected  into  the  New- 
tonian sphere  of  scholarship.  But,  while  that  could 
hardly  be  relied  on  as  a  method  of  treatment,  it  is 
true  that  whatever  arouses  a  youth  to  a  determined, 
manly  eftbrt  in  pursuit  of  knowledge,  secures  to  him 
a  higher  meed  of  success. 

Indeed,  a  savant  of  science  not  long  ago  advocated 
before  the  British  Academy  of  Medicine  the  use  of 
electricity  as  a  mental  stimulant.  He  cites  a  dunce 
who  was  "  electrified  "  from  the  foot  to  the  head  of 
his  class,  and  held  his  own  there ;  and  the  learned 
gentleman's  serious  advice  to  instructors  was  to  treat 
the  lowest  six  in  college  or  academy  to  a  course  of 
electricity — as  in  practical  enforcement  of  the  appeal 
of  our  text.     But,  young  man  !  if  you  are  a  lagging 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Students        173 

student,  do  not  wait  to  be  struck  by  lightning  or 
kicked  in  the  stomach,  but  *'  be  thou  strong,  .  .  .  and 
shew  thyself  a  man,"  in  resolute,  patient  industry  in 
your  every-day  studies,  and  if  you  are  not  the  equal 
of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  you  will  come  nearer  to  it  than 
you  have  deemed  possible,  for  it  is  ever  true  that  in 
the  field  of  the  mind  "  He  that  tilleth  his  land  shall 
have  plenty  of  bread"  (Prov.  28  :  19). 

In  your  spiritual  life,  when  you  are  weak,  then 
you  are  strong  (2  Cor.  12  :  10).  Your  soul-strength 
must  be  that  of  the  clinging  vine  rather  than  of  the 
sturdy  oak, — a  strength  exercised  in  the  grip  of  your 
faith  on  the  hand  that  leads  you  and  the  right  hand 
that  holds  you  (Psa.  139  :  10).  But  to  such  strength 
you  are  clearly  called.  You  must  "  be  strong  in  the 
Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  his  might  "  (Eph.  6  :  10) ; 
*'  strong  in  the  grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  "  (2  Tim. 
2:1);  strong  and  fearless  for  every  duty.  There  is 
no  true  Christian  manliness  without  God-reliant,  earth- 
and-hell-defiant  courage. 

"According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you  !  "  (Matt. 
9  :  29)  is  the  assurance  of  God  to  every  man  who 
follows  the  Captain  of  our  salvation  (Heb.  2  :  10). 
"  He  that  doubteth  is  damned  "  (Rom.  14  :  23)  for  all 
efficient  Christian  endeavor,  and  prompt  and  hearty 
discharge  of  duty.  The  divine  injunction  rings  out 
now  as  of  old,  "  Have  not  I  commanded  thee  ?  Be 
strong  and  of  a  good  courage ;  be  not  afraid,  neither 
be  thou  dismayed  :  for  the  Lord  thy  God  is  with  thee 
whithersoever  thou  goest  "  (Josh,  i  :  9). 


1 74  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

"  Give  me  the  dauntless  man, 
Who  flinches  not  from  labor  or  fatigue, 
But  moves  right  out  upon  the  path  of  duty. 
God  will  stand  by  the  man  who  boldy  stands 
By  God's  commands  ;  God  will  give  him  energy 
And  courage  now,  and  afterwards  success." 

But  there  is  another  phase  of  this  great  subject  that 
is  of  no  little  importance.  Let  us  look  at  that  carefully. 
"  Be  thou  strong,  .  .  .  and  shew  thyself  A  man  "  !  A 
man — not  merely  mannish,  human,  of  the  race  of 
men  ;  nor  yet  alone  manly  and  manful,  but  a  man — an 
individual,  with  your  own  character,  your  own  convic- 
tions, and  your  own  course  in  life.  The  call  to  this 
individuality  of  being  is  plainly  included  in  the  text. 
David  was  enjoining  Solomon  to  personal  duties — 
duties  which  were  Solomon's  and  no  one's  else.  The 
summons  to  individual  action  is  anew  to  every  soul  to 
whom  the  summons  is  repeated.  And  if  there  be 
one  trait  which  more  than  another  commends  its  pos- 
sessor to  the  world,  it  is  manly  independence  of  char- 
acter. This  is  what  shows  a  man  a  hero — marks  the 
difference  between  heroism  and  bravery. 

The  Swiss  who  followed  Arnold  de  Winckelreid 
were  all  brave.  It  was  the  going  forward  alonCy  to 
gather  the  death-harvest  of  lances  into  his  own  great 
heart,  that  uplifted  him  as  the  hero  there.  Napoleon 
seemed  never  more  the  hero  than  when  at  Grenoble, 
on  his  return  from  Elba,  he  rested  calmly  on  his  indi- 
viduality, as  he  pressed  up  to  the  leveled  muskets  of 
one  of  his  old  regiments  which  had  been  ordered  to 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Students        1 75 


fire  on  him,  and  said,  confidently,  "Soldiers  of  the 
Fifth   Regiment !    if  there  is   one   among   you    who 
would  kill  his  Emperor,  let  him  do  it!     Here  I  am  ! " 
David,  standing  out  alone  before  the  affrighted  army 
of  Israel,  to  defy  the  Philistines  and  their  champion  ; 
Elijah,  single-handed,  challenging  the   four   hundred 
and  fifty  prophets  of   Baal  to  a  struggle, — and  thus 
with  all  the  heroes,  along  through  the  following  ages; 
St.    Telemachus,    an    humble    monk  of  the    desert, 
throwing  himself  between  gladiatorial  combatants  in 
the  Colosseum,   and  ending  in  his  martyr-death  the 
brutal  games  he  battled  ;  Peter  the  Hermit,  "  a  bare- 
headed, bare-footed,  little,  shriveled  old  man,  mounted 
on  an  ass,  wrapped  in  a  coarse  garment,  girded  with  a 
rope,"  traversing  Europe  to    initiate  a  Crusade,  and 
drawing  after  him  all  Christendom  in  arms  ;  Luther, 
a   simple   German   priest,   rising  up   to    hurl    defiant 
anathemas  against  the  hierarchy  which  held  the  world 
in  its  grasp  ;  Cromwell,  mustering  a  psalm-singing, 
praying  band  of  yeoman,  to  give  battle  to  the  skilled 
soldiers  of  the  mightiest  monarchy  of  earth, — down 
to  gray-haired  John  Brown,  starting  up  with  a  handful 
of   pikes,  to  lead  a  half-dozen  followers  to   the  over- 
throw of  a  vast  system  of  oppression,  hedged  in  and 
protected   by  all   the   civil   and   military  powers   of  a 
great  nation  !    All  these  have  won  admiration  and  rev- 
erence,— often  wresting  applause   for  their  character 
from   those   who   condemned   their  course, — through 
their  audacious  personality  of  performance,  because 
each  one  was  stronc:r  and  showed  himself  a  man. 


I  ^6  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

"  One  man  among  a  thousand  have  I  found  "  (Eccl. 
7  :  28),  said  the  Preacher,  in  his  day.  Has  the  relative 
number  of  men  diminished  since  then?  J.  Stuart 
Mill  says  that  no  period  of  England's  history  had 
been  so  little  marked  by  individual  originality  and 
force  as  his  century. 

"  How  rare  men  are  !  "  said  Napoleon.  "  There.are 
eighteen  millions  in  Italy,  and  I  have  with  difficulty 
found  two, — Dandolo  and  Melzi." 

Carlyle  declares  of  the  people  thronging  the  Strand 
in  London,  whose  personal  history  he  would  like  to 
ask  of  each,  "  No,  I  will  not  stop  them.  If  I  did,  I 
should  find  they  were  like  a  flock  of  sheep  following 
in  the  track  of  one  another." 

Of  our  own  country,  Mr.  Beecher  has  said  pithily: 
"We  must  make  men  now  as  they  make  masts:  they 
saw  down  a  dozen  trees,  splice  them  together,  and 
wind  them  round  with  iron  hoops,  and  thus  make 
masts  that  are  supposed  to  be  stronger  than  they 
would  be  if  each  was  a  whole  piece  of  timber.  And 
so  with  men  ;  if  you  want  a  good  man,  you  have  to 
take  a  dozen  men,  and  splice  them  together,  and  wind 
the  hoops  of  responsibility  round  and  round  them, 
and  put  watching  bands  all  about  them."  Ah!  there 
is  truth  in  the  cry  of  an  earnest  writer  :  "  The  great 
want  of  now  is  not  more  men,  but  more  man  ;  not 
more  persons,  but  more  personality." 

Yet,  if  there  is  one  weakness  of  man  more  con- 
temptible than  another,  it  is  his  proneness  to  seek 
shelter  behind  others  in  shirking   the   responsibiHty 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Studefits        177 

of  his  misdeeds.  In  the  sad  story  of  man's  first  fall, 
there  is  nothing  that  goes  so  to  sicken  and  disgust 
one  with  Adam  as  the  whine  of  the  sneaking  sinner, 
when  drawn  by  God's  call  from  "  amongst  the  trees 
of  the  garden," — "The  ivoniaii  whom  thou  gavest  to 
be  with  me,  she  gave  me  of  the  tree,  and  I  did  eat " 
(Gen.  3  :  12).  For  shame  !  thus  to  sacrifice  all  manly 
independence,  and  to  disown  all  personality  of  re- 
sponsible life  !  Sad,  sad,  it  is,  that  the  race  so  gen- 
erally follows  Adam  in  his  cowardice,  as  it  does  uni- 
formly in  his  sinning. 

Oh,  the  contrast  between  the  first  Adam  and  the 
last  Adam — between  Eden  and  Gethsemane  !  When 
the  blessed  Jesus  was  with  the  chosen  of  his  disci- 
ples in  the  garden,  and  the  multitude  came  out  in  his 
pursuit,  he,  "  knowing  all  things  that  should  come 
upon  him,  went  forth,  and  said  unto  them.  Whom 
seek  ye?  They  answered  him,  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
Jesus  saith  unto  them,  /  am  he.  ...  If  therefore  ye 
seek  vtc,  let  these  go  their  way"  (John  18  :  4-8).  No 
failure  there  to  meet  the  dread  responsibilities  of  his 
position!  "The  man  Christ  Jesus"  (i  Tim.  2:5) 
is  alone  the  model.  Be  thou  strong,  therefore,  to 
show  thyself  a  man  like  him  in  this. 

In  a  college  or  academy,  where  so  many  are  gath- 
ered in  close  association  and  sympathy,  there  is 
peculiar  danger  to  a  young  man  of  losing  his  individ- 
ualism by  merging  it  more  or  less  in  the  mass,  or  in 
the  class,  or  in  the  crowd.  Many  a  student  for  in- 
stance, consents,  under  a  pressure  of  class,  or  society. 


78  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


or    "crowd"    sentiment,  to  do   what   his    intelligent 
judgment  condemns;  and  in  some  "bread-and-butter" 
(a  famous  Yale  conflict)  or  "  mark-system  "  rebellion, 
high-minded,  even  Christian,  youth  will  say  deliber- 
ately,  "I   didn't  think   the   thing   proposed  was  just 
right ;  but  the  class,  or  the  college,  voted  it,  and  of 
course  I  must  fall  in."     No,  you  must  not,  "  of  course, 
fall  in,"  young  man.     If  a  thing  is  not  just  right,  you 
must  stand  out  against  it,  in  spite  of  all  odds  and  at 
any  cost.     "  Thou  shall  not  follow  a  multitude  to  do 
evil  "  (Exod.  23  :  2),  said  God  by  his  servant,  Moses. 
"  Let  every  man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind" 
(Rom.  14:5),  was  the  echo  of  Paul.    Said  Athanasius  : 
"  If  the  world   goes  against  truth,  then  Athanasius 
cfoes   aeainst   the  world,  and  Jehovah  and  Athana- 
sius  are  always  a  majority." 

"  The  world  assaults  ?     Nor  fight,  nor  fly. 
Stand  in  some  steadfast  truth  and  eye 
The  stubborn  siege  grow  old  and  die."  ^ 

Therefore,!  say  again  :  "  Shciu  thyself  a  man,''  my 
friend,  and  this  I  say  to  each  of  you  individually,  not 
to  you  collectively.  Do  what  you  know  to  be  right  and 
only  that,  in  spite  of  the  views  of  your  fellows,  and 
the  votes  of  your  crowd.  Don't  drink,  nor  smoke, 
nor  gamble,  nor  visit  vile  resorts,  nor  take  gates  off 
the  hino-es  nor  gro  out  of  town  without  leave,  nor  haze 
a  newcomer,  nor  seek  to  annoy  an  instructor,  nor  do  any 
other  either  foolish  or  wicked  thing,  because  others  do 

1  Sydney  Dobell. 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Students        1 79 


so, — not  even  if  "  everybody  else  does."  But  to  show 
thyself  A  MAN  thus,  you  must,  indeed,  be  strong.  It 
is  hard  work  to  do  right  independently.  "  It  is  easy 
in  the  world  to  live  after  the  world's  opinion,"  says 
Emerson;  "  it  is  easy  in  solitude  to  live  after  our  own, 
but  the  great  man  is  he  who,  in  the  midst  of  the 
crowd,  keeps  with  perfect  sweetness  the  independence 
of  solitude."  It  is  easier  in  any  moving  throng  to  go 
with  the  crowd  than  to  go  against  it.  Driftwood  will 
float  with  the  current.  The  brawny  arm  is  needed  to 
pull  even  the  light  canoe  up-stream.  But  the  current 
of  busy  life  sets  hellward,  and  if  you  yield  to  it  un- 
resistingly you  will  find  yourself  in  perdition.  The 
better  way  is  to  clioose  your  course,  and  pursue  it 
Then,  if  for  any  distance  the  current  runs  your  way, 
avail  yourself  of  the  popular  help  ;  but  if  its  direction 
is  contrary,  say  resolutely,  as  said  a  hero  of  Italy,  "  I 
had  rather  take  one  step  forward  and  die,  than  one 
step  backward  and  live." 

You  may  have  to  bear  the  jeers  or  revilings  of 
your  companions,  if  you  dare  conscientiously  to 
oppose  the  public  sentiment  of  your  little  circle,  as 
other  manly  men  have  been  called  to  breast  mightier 
waves  of  contempt  or  hatred  in  their  life-struggles  for 
the  right ;  but  in  the  end  you  will  be  more  sure  of  sup- 
port  than  you  could  be  by  any  courting  of  popular 
favor. 

"  To  thine  own  self  be  true ; 
And  it  must  follow,  as  the  night  the  day, 
Thou  canst  not  then  be  false  to  any  man." 


1 80  Shoes  and  Ratio7is  for  a  Long  March 

"He  who  agrees  with  himself,  agrees  with  others," 
says  Goethe  ;  and  so  the  heroes  of  the  world  have 
found  it.  Even  Punch  comes  to  pay  tribute  to  the 
long-despised  John  Bright,  with  this  meed  of  praise : 

"  And  he  can  boast,  and  truly  boast, 
The  change  is  not  in  him, 
He  waited,  as  the  years  went  by, 
Rigid,  resolved,  and  grim. 

**  Thought  out  his  thought,  and  spoke  it  out, 
Nor  cared  for  howl  or  cheer ; 
Reckless  what  faith  his  speech  might  win, 
What  hate  provoke,  or  fear. 

"  Till  the  great  tide,  whose  forces  deep 
Nor  men  nor  modes  withstand, 
Bore  spoils  of  office  to  his  feet, 
And  power  into  his  hand." 

Perhaps  no  better  single  example  of  manly  indi- 
vidualism can  be  named  than  the  case  of  Granville 
Sharp.  A  subordinate  clerk  in  a  public  office,  with- 
out wealth  or  friends  or  scholarship,  he  determined  to 
overthrow  the  slave  power  in  Great  Britain,  to  secure 
decisions  in  the  courts  against  its  rightfulness,  and  to 
influence  national  legislation  tor  its  downfall.  With 
every  judge  and  lawyer  in  the  kingdom  opposed  to 
him,  he  entered  on  the  study  of  law,  from  its  very 
rudiments,  and,  while  toiling  daily  at  his  clerkship  for 
bread,  mastered  the  great  principles  of  legal  science, 
searched  the  records  of  judicial  decisions  and  parlia- 
mentary enactments,  and  gathered  the  material  he 
required  for  his  great  purpose. 


My  Chaplaincy  Among  Students        i8i 

Publishing  the  results  of  his  investigations,  and 
scattering  his  essays  widely  through  the  land,  Sharp 
fought  his  test  case  to  the  highest  tribunal  of  the 
realm, wrested  from  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mansfield  the 
admission  of  previous  error,  and  secured  the  promul- 
gation of  the  decision  that  freed  every  slave  on  the 
soil  of  England.  The  result  of  his  personal  endeavors 
aroused,  for  the  completion  of  his  mighty  undertak- 
ing, Clarkson  and  Wilberforce  and  Buxton  and 
Brougham ;  and  the  contest  he  entered  on  single- 
handed  was  continued,  with  constantly  fresh  accessions 
of  friends  and  favor,  until  slavery  was  abolished  in  all 
the  British  dominions,  and  then  in  America  ;  and  now 
every  freedman  on  our  own  purified  soil  owes  his  lib- 
erty, instrumentally,  to  the  movement  begun  by  Gran- 
ville Sharp,  the  humble  Ordnance  clerk,  who  heard 
the  cry  of  God,  "  Be  thou  strong,  .  .  .  and  shew  thyself 
a  man "  !  and  in  fearless  independence  rose  up  to 
breast  and  battle  and  conquer — the  world. 

Ah  !  it  is  glorious  to  be  a  man ;  to  do  the  work  of 
a  man  ;  to  have  your  own  convictions  of  duty,  and 
to  stand  by  them  ;  to  serve,  like  David,  your  '*  own 
generation"  (Acts  13  :  36),  until  by  the  will  of  God 
you  fall  asleep,  knowing,  like  Job,  even  while  you 
toil  and  suffer,  that  your  own  Redeemer  liveth, 
whom  you  shall  see  for  yourself,  and  whom  j/^?/r  eyes 
shall  behold  and  not  another  (Job  19  :  25-27). 

"Be  thou  strong  therefore,  and  shew  thyself  a 
man,"  growing  **  up  into  him  in  all  things,  which  is 


1 82   Shoes  and  Ratio?is  for  a  Long  March 


the  head,  even  Christ"  (Eph.  4:  15),  and  coming 
through  "  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a 
perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 
fuhiess  of  Christ"  (Eph.  4  :  13). 


IMPORTANCE  OF  A  HEAD  TO  A  SOLDIER 


VIII 

IMPORTANCE   OF  A  HEAD  TO  A  SOLDIER 

Many  a  thing  that  a  man  thinks  he  needs,  and  that 
he  certainly  wants,  when  he  is  in  active  army  service, 
is  not  actually  indispensable  to  him  as  a  soldier. 
Bodily  wholeness  is  certainly  desirable;  it  is  even 
insisted  on  for  one  who  offers  himself  as  a  new  recruit. 
Yet  many  soldiers  have  continued  to  do  good  army 
service  after  losing  an  arm  or  a  leg  or  an  eye.  But 
every  soldier  must  have  a  head.  Without  a  head  a 
soldier  can  not  do  service,  or  continue  to  be  a  man. 
Hence,  as  a  head  is  indispensable  to  a  soldier's  very 
existence  as  a  soldier,  it  must  be  retained  by  him  at 
any  cost. 

This  is  true  in  every  sphere  of  human  warfare. 
Whether  a  soldier  be  in  camp  or  on  the  march,  in 
bivouac  or  in  battle,  in  hospital  or  in  army-prison,  on 
detached  service  or  in  home  life, — whatever  else  he 
has  to  be  without,  he  must  have  a  head.  This  is  an 
obvious  truth,  but  it  is  a  truth  that  is  not  always  borne 
in  mind,  even  bv  those  who  have  most  reason  to  con- 
sider  it  seriously. 

During  a  season  of  exceptional  religious  interest  in 
the  church  of  which,  in  my  later  life,  I  have  been  a 

185 


1 86  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

member,  in  West  Philadelphia,  I  was  asked  by  my 
pastor  to  preach  for  him  one  Sunday  morning.  More 
than  fifty  young  persons  had,  within  two  weeks,  newly 
entered  the  Christian  life  in  that  church,  and  others 
were  earnestly  considering  such  action.  New  recruits 
were,  therefore,  before  me  as  I  preached,  and  those 
ready  for  enlistment  were  in  the  congregation.  My 
message  must  be  one  that  every  soldier-soul  should 
consider,  and  my  appeal  should  be  as  earnest  and  as 
important  as  I  could  make  it.  The  sermon  preached 
under  such  circumstances  is  therefore  one  that  I  desire 
to  include  in  the  collection  of  my  talks  to  earth's  sol- 
diers, young  and  old,  in  view  of  their  needs  and 
duties  and  possibilities. 


HEADSHIP  OF  CHRIST 

/  would  have  you  know,  that  the  head  of  every  man 
is  Christ  (i  Cor.  11:3). 

It  is  the  Apostle  Paul  who  speaks  these  words  in 
one  of  his  letters  to  the  Corinthians,  and  what  the 
Apostle  Paul  says  he  wants  to  have  known  is  sure 
to  be  something  that  is  worth  knowing.  But  apart 
from  the  fact  that  these  words  are  Paul's  words, 
they  are,  as  I  view  it,  the  expression  of  a  truth  of 
truths  in  the  disclosure  of  God's  plans,  and  of  man's 
needs  and  possibilities.  Indeed,  I  know  of  no  truth 
that  is  to  be  compared  with  this  truth,  in  the  profound- 
ness of  its  philosophy,  or  in  the  importance  of  its 
practical  bearing. 

All  that  I  have  learned  through  my  closest  studies 
— in  the  Bible  or  outside  of  the  Bible — and  through 
my  experiences  and  observations  in  a  busy  life  among 
men,  can  be  summed  up  in  this  declaration  which 
Paul  deemed  worth  our  knowing.  When,  therefore, 
your  pastor  asks  me  to  speak  to  you  on  an  occasion 
like  the  present,  when  only  the  most  precious  thoughts 
are  at  all  worthy  of  your  attention,  I  can  think  of 
nothing  that  better  represents  the  core  of  the  gospel, 
or  that  better  expresses  the  deepest  conviction  of  my 

187 


I SS  SJioes  and  Rations  for  a  Lo7ig  March 


own  innermost  being,  than  these  words  of  the  Apos- 
tle Paul,  which  I  make  my  own  words,  as  I  come  to 
you  in  Christ's  name  this  morning  : 

"  I  would  have  you  know,  that  the  head  of  every 
man  is  Christ." 

Viewing  man  as  you  will,  there  is  no  completeness 
to  him  save  as  he  finds  it  in  Christ.  No  man  can  live 
as  he  ought  to  live,  or  be  what  he  ought  to  be,  or 
have  the  hope  that  he  ought  to  have,  apart  from  God 
in  Christ.  In  Christ  there  is  a  possibility  to  every 
man  of  the  truest  life,  of  the  noblest  being,  of  the 
grandest  hope,  conceivable  for  man. 

Viewing  Christ  as  you  will,  he  is  the  world's  center 
of  interest  and  of  admiration.  Even  apart  from  all 
theological  dogmas  concerning  his  nature  and  his 
power,  Christ  stands  an  absolutely  unique  figure  in 
human  histor>\  There  was  never  one  like  him  before. 
There  has  never  been  one  like  him  since.  No  char- 
acter like  his  was  conceived  of  until  he  had  lived  his  life. 
When  his  life  was  lived,  it  became  at  once  the  standard 
by  which  all  other  lives  were  measured  ;  and  no  one 
now  dreams  of  a  rival  to  that  life  as  a  standard  of 
moral  and  spiritual  measurement  to  the  end  of  time. 

With  man  as  man  is,  and  with  Christ  as  Christ  is, 
Christ  must  be  to  the  complete  man  all  that  the  head 
is  to  the  body,  as  a  source  of  guidance,  of  balance, 
and  of  vivifying  power.  And  without  Christ  the  best 
of  men  lacks  that  sure  knowledge,  that  abiding  peace, 
and  that  fulness  of  life,  which  are  secured  to  those  of 
whom  Christ  is  the  head. 


Importance  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      1 89 


/.  **  /  would  have  yoic  hioWy  that  the  head  of  every 
man  is  CJirist ' '  in  the  realm  of  all  true  knowledge  con- 
cerning practical  duty  in  daily  life,  as  zvell  as  co?icerning 
all  things  beyond  and  above  the  realities  of  time  and  sense. 

We  talk  about  doing  our  duty,  about  doing  right, 
about  doing  as  well  as  we  know  how  ;  but  what  do 
we  mean  by  all  this  ?  What  is  duty  ?  What  is  right  ? 
What  is  the  moral  standard  toward  which  we  are  striv- 
ing within  the  limits  of  our  knowledge  of  its  demands  ? 

All  our  well-defined  ideas  of  duty  and  of  right  are 
derived  from  the  character  and  teachings  of  Jesus 
Christ.  It  is  true  that  long  before  his  day  there  were 
moral  laws  and  standards  of  right  and  duty,  recog- 
nized among  many  of  the  nations  of  earth,  or  laid 
down  in  the  sacred  books  of  the  ages  ;  but  not  until 
Jesus  made  clear  the  fuller  meaning  of  the  precepts 
that  ought  to  be  binding  upon  the  consciences  of 
men,  and  pointed  out  the  errors  that  had  blinded  the 
moral  sight  of  mankind,  was  there  known  to  the  world 
a  fixed  standard  of  duty,  Godward  and  manward. 
Not  until  then  was  there  a  given  standard  of  right,  to 
be  accepted  more  and  more  generally  by  all  proper- 
thinking  and  well-disposed  persons  everywhere,  in  the 
progress  of  the  world's  advancement. 

Until  Jesus  Christ  appeared,  there  was,  at  the  best, 
only  a  foreshadowing  of  the  good  things  that  have 
been  realized  in  him.  Since  his  appearance,  the  high- 
est attainment,  personal  or  social,  reached  or  reached 
after  by  men,  can  not  transcend  that  attainment  which 
Jesus  exhibited,  and  which  Jesus  enjoined  on  all. 


90  Shoes  mid  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


Whatever  may  be  your  view  of  the  development 
of  the  human  race,  or  of  human  thought,  it  can  not 
fairly  be  a  question  with  you,  that  suddenly,  almost 
two  thousand  years  ago,  in  an  out-of-the-way  portion 
of  the  earth,  and  from  among  a  people  of  restricted 
religious  opinions,  there  appeared  a  world-teacher  of 
morals  and  religion,  who  stands  to-day,  even  in  the 
light  of  nineteen  added  centuries  of  progress  under 
the  impulse  of  his  own  best  teachings,  a  faultless 
teacher  and  a  model  guide  ;  so  that  when  even  unbe- 
lieving fancy  would  picture  an  ideal  morality,  it  can 
suggest  nothing  better  than  the  pattern  life  which 
Jesus  lived  on  earth. 

You  can  find  good  in  the  moral  teachings  of  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  of  the  sages  of  Assyria  and  China 
and  India,  and  of  the  philosophers  of  Greece  and 
Rome  ;  but  no  one  of  you  can  say  that  those  teach- 
ings are  unmixed  with  error,  or  that  their  standards 
are  uniformly  those  which  you  deem  the  correct  one. 
On  the  other  hand,  no  one  of  you  will  claim  that  he 
recognizes  a  flaw  in  the  moral  teachings  of  Jesus,  or 
that  he  can  conceive  to-day  of  a  higher  standard  of 
duty  than  Jesus  held,  and  holds,  before  men.  Nor 
can  you  say  that  such  a  standard  is  to  be  found  else- 
where in  all  the  earth,  even  in  the  teachings  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures — as  those  teachings  were  inter- 
preted and  applied  before  the  coming  of  Jesus. 

So  it  is  that  all  our  knowledge  of  personal  and  social 
duty  centers  in,  or  is  derived  from,  the  teachings  and 
the  example  of  Jesus  Christ.      **  God,  having  of  old 


Importance  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      1 9 1 


time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets  by  divers 
portions  and  in  divers  manners,  hath  at  the   end  of 
these  days  spoken  unto  us  in  his  Son"  (Heb.  i  :  1-2)  ; 
and  thus  it  has  come  to  pass  that  in  moral  and  reh- 
gious  knowledge  *'the  head  of  eveiy  man  is  Christ." 
It  is  not  that  eveiy  man  who  strives  to  do  his  duty, 
or  who  is,  in  matters  of  morality,  doing  as  well  as  he 
know^s  how,  is  conscious  of  the  fact  that  he  is  so  far 
heeding  the  counsel  of  Jesus  ;  but  it  is  that  all  our 
modern    best    ideas   of    right   and   duty   are  derived 
directly   from    Jesus    Christ      Our  ideas  of   duty    in 
the  treatment  of  children,  in   the   life  we  live  in  the 
family,  in  our  social   intercourse  wdth   our  fellows,  in 
our  business  relations  with  others,  in  our  ministry  to 
or  in  our  provisions  for  the  poor  and  the  sick  and  the 
insane  and  the  criminal,  and  even  in  our  recognition 
of  the  rights  of  the  brute  creation,  as  well  as  in  our 
attitude  toward  the  government  which  is  over  us, — all, 
all  are  shaped  and  directed  by  the  specific  teachings 
of  Jesus. 

See  how  it  was,  for  example,  in  the  matter  of  the 
parental  care  of  children  before  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  were  the  recognized  moral  standard  of  the  more 
civilized  nations  of  the  world  !  Among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  when  those  peoples  led  the  w^orld's  best 
thinking  and  doing,  a  new-born  child  had  no  right  to 
live  save  by  its  human  father  s  special  consent  as  an 
act  of  grace.  The  infant  was  brought  at  its  birth  and 
laid  at  its  father's  feet.  If  the  father  stooped  and 
took  the  child  in  his  arms,  the  babe  might  live  and  be 


192   Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

reared  at  that  father's  expense.  Otherwise  it  would 
be  killed  or  left  to  perish. 

Jesus,  at  his  coming,  took  into  his  arms  a  little 
child,  and  made  it  the  example  and  the  charge  of 
those  who  would  show  their  love  for  him.  "Whoso- 
ever .  .  .  shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child,  the 
same  is  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  he 
said.  **And  whoso  shall  receive  one  such  little  child 
in  my  name  receiveth  me"  (comp.  Matt.  18  :  2-5  and 
Mark  9  :  36,  37).  That  act  and  those  words  of  Jesus 
were  the  turning  point  in  the  world's  estimate  of  child- 
hood. And  now  when,  at  the  baptism  of  little  children, 
the  father  takes  the  tender  babe  in  his  arms  and  pre- 
sents him  at  the  Lord's  altar,  there  is  a  survival  of  the 
old  pagan  custom,  with  its  Christianized  aspect,  as  the 
father  says,  symbolically,  ''This  child  shall  live,  and 
shall  be  reared  for  Jesus." 

So  it  is  in  every  sphere  of  personal  and  social  life. 
All  true  progress  has  been  made,  and  is  making,  in 
the  direction,  and  under  the  direction,  of  Christian 
teachings,  just  so  far  as  Christian  teachings  are  the 
teachings  of  Christ.  James  Russell  Lowell,  who 
would  hardly  be  deemed  a  religious  bigot,  summed 
the  truth  in  this  whole  matter,  so  far,  when  he  said, 
in  a  public  address  in  England  not  very  long  before 
his  death  :  **  When  the  microscopic  search  of  skepti- 
cism, which  has  hunted  the  heavens  and  sounded  the 
seas  to  disprove  the  existence  of  a  Creatcr,  has  turned 
its  attention  to  human  society,  and  has  found  a  place 
in  this  planet  where  a  decent  man  can  live  in  decency, 


Importmice  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      193 

comfort,  and  security,  supporting  and  educating  his 
children  unspoiled  and  unpolluted  ;  a  place  where  age 
is  reverenced,  manhood  respected,  womanhood  hon- 
ored, and  human  life  held  in  due  regard  ;  when  skeptics 
can  find  such  a  place  ten  miles  square  on  this  globe, 
where  the  gospel  of  Christ  has  not  gone  and  cleared 
the  way  and  laid  the  foundations  and  made  decency 
and  security  possible,  it  will  then  be  in  order  for  the 
skeptical  literate  to  move  thither,  and  there  ventilate 
their  views." 

Not  long  after  Mr.  Lowell  said  that,  I  heard  Pro- 
fessor Drummond,  the  Scotch  scientist,  who  has  been 
a  world-wide  traveler  and  a  careful  student  of  the 
observations  of  others,  quote  these  words,  and  say  in 
addition  that,  if  any  one  could  show  him  such  a  field 
of  ten  miles  square  anywhere  on  earth,  he  would  sur- 
render his  belief  in  Christianity  as  the  world's  only 
hope  of  true  uplifting  in  knowledge  and  morals. 

Is  it  not  then  specifically  true  ''that  the  head  of 
every  man  is  Christ"  in  the  realm  of  true  moral  and 
religious  knowledge  ?  Whether  he  realizes  it  or  not, 
he  who  does,  or  who  strives  to  do,  as  well  as  he 
knows  how,  is  a  far-off  follower  of  Jesus,  walking  in 
the  path  of  duty  which  Jesus  first  made  clear.  He  is 
moving  in  the  right  direction,  even  though  he  is  not 
moving  as  surely  or  as  intelligently  as  he  should 
move.  Being  out  of  Christ,  he  is,  however,  in  the 
truest  sense,  "out  of  his  head  ;  "  for  only  as  a  man 
recognizes  the  headship  of  Christ  can  he  fully  know 
his  duty,   his  privileges,  his  possibilities,  his  destiny. 


1 94  Shoes  mid  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

Recognizing  that  headship,  and  conforming  himself 
to  it,  the  path  of  completed  knowledge  is  fairly  open 
before  a  man. 

Jesus  says  to  each  and  all  of  us,  '*If  ye  abide  in 
my  word  [having  accepted  my  headship],  then  are  ye 
truly  my  disciples ;  and  ye  shall  know  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free"  (John  8  :  31,  32). 

2.  Moreover,  *'  /  tuould  have  you  know,  that  the  head 
of  every  man  is  Christ''  in  the  spJiere  of  that  peace  of 
mind  zvJiicJi  alone  gives  comfort,  and  secures  the  highest 
power,  to  any  man  in  the  struggles  and  endurances  of 
his  daily  life  on  eartJi. 

Knowing  what  is  right  does  not  in  itself  give  peace 
of  mind  to  a  man.  More  often  it  is  a  cause  of  added 
unrest  to  him.  He  who  knows  what  is  right  and  does 
not  do  it,  is  farther  from  peace  than  if  he  had  no 
knowledge  of  the  right.  He  who  lives  wholly  for 
himself,  is  never  satisfied  with  himself  He  who  seeks 
pleasure  as  the  end  of  his  living,  never  finds  pleasure 
unalloyed.  He  who  would  avoid  disquiet  of  mind  by 
turning  away  from  all  serious  thought,  and  finding  for- 
getfulness  of  God  in  indulgence  of  sin,  can  never  turn 
away  from  the  consciousness  that  he  ought  to  be  better, 
nor  forget  that  there  is  an  aim  in  life  worthier  of  him 
than  the  aim  he  is  pursuing. 

Said  a  young  man  to  me,  who  had  been  living  a 
wild  life  of  selfish  pleasure-seeking :  "  No  one  but 
God  knew  how  much  I  suffered,  while  I  seemed  to  be 
always  having  *a  good  time.'      I've  gone  home  long 


Importance  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      195 

after  midnight,  night  after  night,  and  as  I  crept  softly 
upstairs  toward  my  bedroom,  I've  seen  the  hght 
streaming  out  from  under  my  mother's  door,  and  I've 
heard  her  low,  sobbing  voice  in  prayer,  and  I  knew  she 
was  kept  awake  praying  for  me.  Then  I've  gone  up 
into  my  room  and  thrown  myself  on  my  bed,  and 
cried  as  if  my  heart  would  break.  I've  wished  I  was 
dead  ;  but  I've  lived, — lived  to  do  the  same  thing  over 
again  with  the  same  result.  And  that's  the  life  I 
lived  for  years.  I  tell  you  there  is  no  comfort  to  the 
man  who  keeps  on  doing  wrong  when  he  knows  he 
ought  to  do  better!" 

At  the  best,  as  God's  word  assures  us,  *' The  wicked 
are  like  the  troubled  sea ;  for  it  cannot  rest.  .  .  . 
There  is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked " 
(Isa.  57  :  20,  21). 

Nor  does  tiying  to  do  as  well  as  one  knows  how 
secure  peace  of  mind  in  every  instance  ;  for,  as  a  rule, 
such  tiying  is  not  a  success  according  to  the  man's 
own  estimate  of  his  doing.  Trying  to  do  w^ell  is  a 
praiseworthy  endeavor,  but  God  has  set  before  every 
man  an  ideal  that  is  higher  than  his  own  best  per- 
formance, and  a  man  can  never  stand  complete  before 
God  in  a  sense  of  his  own  real  merit.  Many  a  man 
who  lives  an  upright  life  in  personal  morals,  and  whose 
heart  is  full  of  kindly  purposes  toward  his  fellows, 
lacks  that  feeling  of  restful  peace  which  is  the  posses- 
sion of  him  who  knows  that  he  is  Christ's,  and  that 
Christ  is  his,  and  that  in  his  well-doing  as  in  his  short- 
coming he  is  loved  of  God   as   one  for  whom  Jesus 


1 96  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

lived  and  died,  and  for  whom  Christ  hves,  and  whom 
Christ  loves. 

Not  even  a  purpose  of  being  a  Christian,  nor  the 
belief  that  one  is  a  Christian,  nor  the  knowledge 
that  one  is  a  consistent  member  of  a  Christian 
church,  can  give  peace  of  mind  to  one  who  longs 
for  peace.  **  I  would  have  you  know,  that  the  head 
of  every  man  is  CJirist ;''  not  holy  purposes,  not  a 
rich  religious  experience,  not  a  formal  church-mem- 
bership, but  Christ.  "  The  head  of  every  man  is 
Christ ; "  and  only  he  of  whom  Christ  is  the  head  and 
balance,  and  who  trusts  himself  wholly  to  the  wise 
and  loving  headship  of  Christ,  can  have  peace  ;  that 
peace  "which  passeth  all  understanding,"  and  which 
abideth  forever. 

Peace  comes  to  the  believer  in  Jesus,  not  through 
what  the  man  does,  nor  through  what  the  man  is,  but 
through  a  sense  of  what  Jesus  is  in  himself,  and  of 
what  Jesus  is  to  every  man  who  trusts  himself  to  him. 
Peace  is  found  by  looking  away  from  one's  self,  away 
from  one's  merits,  away  from  one's  lack,  and  at  Christ 
as  he  is,  and  in  his  attitude  toward  the  sinner.  One 
may  be  conscious  of  great  imperfections,  of  pitiable 
weakness  ;  he  may  be  perplexed  with  doubts  about 
his  purposes  and  motives  ;  he  maybe  beset  by  peculiar 
temptations,  and  sore-tried  with  afflictions  and  be- 
reavements ;  but  if  he  fixes  his  gaze  on  Christ  in  whom 
all  fulness  dwells  (Col.  i  :  19),  and  realizes  that  all  that 
Christ  is,  and  all  that  Christ  has,  is  shared  by  Christ 
with  every  soul  that  accepts   his  headship,  peace  of 


Importmice  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      197 


mind  must  be  a  result  of  such  gazing  and  such  real- 
izing (Rom.  8  :  16,  17;  Gal.  4:  7). 

Peace  comes  from  realizing  that  Christ  is  our  Head, 
and  not  from  believing  that  Christ  is  merely  our 
Helper.  A  young  Christian  who  had  been  in  army 
service  for  a  time,  and  who  was  now  in  the  struggle 
for  business  success,  said  to  me  half  regretfully  one 
day:  "I  never  have  had  such  peace  as  I  had  in  zua/^- 
time.  Then  I  was  always  under  orders,  and  I  accepted 
the  state  of  things.  Every  morning  the  sergeant  told 
me  just  what  to  do,  and  I  did  it.  One  morning  it  was 
'drill,'  another  it  was  '  fatigue,'  another  it  was  'polic- 
incr ,'  another  it  was  'fall  in  for  a  march.'  It  was  all 
laid  out  for  me,  and  I  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  obey. 
But  now  I'm  in  a  worry  to  know  just  what  I  ought  to 
do  in  the  work  which  I've  undertaken."  The  real 
difference  with  that  young  man  in  war-time  and  in 
time  of  peace  was  that  in  the  one  case  he  realized 
that  he  was  under  a  competent  head,  while  in  the 
other  case  he  wanted  to  be  his  own  head. 

**  Ye  call  me  Master,  and,  Lord,"  says  Jesus  :  **  and 
ye  say  well  ;  for  so  I  am  "  (John  13:13).  He  who 
recognizes  Christ  as  Lord  and  Master  and  Head,  can 
be  told  day  by  day  just  what  to  do  or  just  what  to 
endure  in  the  day  before  him,  and  he  can  find  peace 
in  doing  and  enduring  accordingly. 

There  are  many  believers  in  Jesus  who  enjoy  peace 
in  the  consciousness  of  his  headship,  while  they  are 
in  the  army  or  while  they  are  in  business,  while  they 
are  prospered  or  while  they  are  afflicted.     Their  con- 


198  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Lo7ig  March 

dition  has  nothing  to  do  with  giving  them  peace,  or 
with  keeping  peace  from  them.  Their  peace  is  wholly 
the  result  of  their  accepting  Christ  as  their  head.  I 
wish  I  could  give  you  even  the  faintest  glimpse  of  all 
that  I  have  seen  of  this  peace  of  mind  which  Christ 
secures  to  those  who  trust  him. 

I  knew,  at  the  same  time,  two  believers  in  Jesus 
who  had  the  fullest  measure  of  peace  in  his  headship. 
One  of  them  probably  never  had  a  hundred  dollars 
at  a  time.  His  whole  life  was  given  to  Christ,  and  he 
literally  lived  from  hand  to  mouth  in  Christ's  service. 
His  face  was  all  aglow  with  joy  as  he  told  me  of 
Christ's  unvaiynng  goodness  to  him.  **  Dear  Saviour," 
he  said,  *'  he  does  everything  for  me.  I  haven't  a 
sing-le  unsatisfied  want  in  this  world."  The  other  be- 
liever  was  rich  in  this  world's  goods.  His  property 
counted  up  into  the  millions.  He  had  come  into  the 
service  of  Christ  after  the  middle  of  life,  but  he  had 
accepted  Christ  as  his  head,  and  now  he  and  all  that 
he  had  belonged  to  Christ.  Day  by  day  he  was  ask- 
ing Jesus  what  he  might  do  for  him,  and  he  was  doing 
as  Jesus  directed.  The  light  of  Christ's  love  was  in 
his  face  as  he  said  to  me  one  day,  "I  feel  that  I've 
wasted  so  much  time  in  living  out  of  Christ  that  I 
don't  want  to  waste  another  minute,  now  that  I'm  in 
his  loving  service." 

One  of  these  believers  had  learned  how  to  be 
empty,  and  the  other  how  to  be  full,  in  Christ's  service 
(Phil.  4  :  12),  and  both  of  them  had  learned  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  peace  through  having  Christ  as  their  head. 


Importance  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      199 


And  so  among  the  poor  and  the  rich,  among  the 
infirm  and  the  bereaved  and  the  disappointed  and  the 
betrayed,  as  well  as  among  those  who  knew  litde  of 
earth's  severest  trials,  I  have  seen,  as  you  have  seen, 
those  who  had  realized  in  their  own  experience  the 
fulness  of  Christ's  words  to  his  disciples  :  "Peace  I 
leave  with  you ;  my  peace  I  give  unto  you  :  not  as 
the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you.  Let  not  your 
heart   be   troubled,  neither   let   it   be  fearful"  (John 

14:  27). 

And  the  truth  of  those  words  may  be  realized  by 
any  one  of  you  who  will  lay  hold  of  them  and  make 
them  your  own  to-day. 

J.  ''I  wotdd  have  you  knozv,  that  the  head  of  every 
man  is  Christ''  in  the  realm  of  life,— the  life  that  is 
and  the  life   that  is   to  come,— life  temporal  and  life 

eternal. 

Our  mortal  life  is  a  dying  life,  and  is  a  life  marred 
and  hindered  by  sin  all  its  way  deathward.  All  of  us 
want  something  better  than  this  life,  something  more 
than  this  life  ;  and  just  in  proportion  as  we  lack  an 
intelligent  and  reasonable  hope  of  something  more 
and  better,  are  we  liable  to  be  tossed  in  bewilderment 
between  doubt  and  despair. 

It  is  not  because  of  any  peculiarity  of  our  early 
theological  training — as  some  would  have  us  suppose 

that   we   have   this  unrest,   and  this  dissatisfaction 

with  the  life  that  mere  nature  offers  us,  in  the  present 
condition  of  nature's   strugglings  with   that   form  of 


200  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

evil  which  we  call  sin.      In   all   ages   and   everywhere 
the  trouble  has  been  much  the  same. 

The  choicest  wisdom  of  the  classic  philosophies  of 
ancient  Greece  and  Rome  went  no  farther  than  to 
seek  out  the  best  use  of  a  fleeting  life  that  was  on  the 
face  of  it  a  seeming  failure.  The  Hebrew  sage  who 
had  tested  for  himself  the  gain  of  pleasure  and  wealth 
and  power  and  learning,  could  only  characterize  all 
that  which  nature  unillumined  from  without  could 
give,  as  "  vanity  and  a  striving  after  wind "  (Eccl. 
2  :  26).  And  to-day,  outside  of  the  realm  of  Chris- 
tianity, millions  upon  millions  of  aching  hearts  accept 
Booddhism  as  their  religion,  because  Booddhism  holds 
before  them  the  hopeless  task  of  practical  annihila- 
tion, with  a  final  end  to  living  and  striving  and  suffer- 
ing and  enduring. 

In  fact,  apart  from  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ, 
there  neither  is,  nor  ever  has  there  been,  any  proffer 
to  man  of  joy  and  triumph  in  the  life  that  is,  and  of 
added  joy  in  life  prolonged  beyond  the  present.  He 
who  studies  the  various  religions  of  the  world,  ancient 
and  modern,  realizes  that  it  is  a  literal  truth  that  there 
is  not  "  any  other  name  under  heaven,  that  is  given 
[or  that  has  been  given]  among  men"  (Acts  4  :  12), 
wherein  is  salvation, — in  a  new  and  abiding  life, — or 
wherein  is  even  a  promise  of  salvation,  except  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  he  who  studies  the  ways 
of  men's  thinkings  and  hopings  to-day,  realizes  that 
there  is  no  well-defined  and  intelligent  hope  by  any- 
body of  true  and  endless  life,   save  as  that  hope  is 


Importance  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      201 

based  on  the  teachings  and  assurances — direct  or  per- 
verted— of  Jesus  Christ. 

But  Jesus  Christ  does  proffer  Hfe,  hfe  in  all  fulness 
and  in  all  joy, — life  now  and  life  forevermore, — to 
every  man  who  trustfully  accepts  him  as  the  one 
source  and  the  one  giver  of  life.  Jesus  Christ  does 
say,  explicitly  and  emphatically:  "He  that  believeth 
on  me,  though  he  die,  yet  shall  he  live  :  and  whosoever 
liveth  and  believeth  on  me  shall  never  die "  (John 
II  125,  26).  And  more  than  sixty  generations  of 
believers  have  put  that  assurance  of  Jesus  to  the  test, 
and  have  found  it  true. 

Sin  and  death  are  facts  ;  and  even  though  we  can 
not  explain  their  presence  in  the  world,  we  have  to 
admit  that  they  are  here,  and  that  their  relation  is 
as  that  of  cause  and  effect ;  or  that,  as  the  Bible  ex- 
presses it,  ''The  wages  of  sin  " — the  price  paid  for  sin- 
ning— ''is  death"  (Rom.  6:  23).  We  see,  and  we 
can  not  deny  it,  that  somehow  in  consequence  of 
this  state  of  things,  in  which  "the  whole  creation 
groaneth  and  travaileth  "  (Rom.  8:22)  in  the  pain 
of  sin,  every  man  is  in  a  dying  state.  Similarly,  new 
life  in  Christ,  salvation  from  sin  and  death,  through 
trusting  Christ,  is  a  fact ;  and  its  presence  in  this 
world  must  be  admitted  by  us,  whether  we  can  ex- 
plain it  or  not.  Just  so  surely  as  we  can  see  before 
us  the  proofs  that  "the  wages  of  sin  is  death,"  just 
so  surely  can  we  see  the  multiplied  and  sufficient 
proofs  that  "the  free  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  (Rom.  6  :  23). 


202  Shoes  mid  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

As,  on  the  lower  plane  of  physical  life,  it  is  shown 
— mystery  though  it  be  at  best — that  the  blood,  or 
life,  of  a  hale  and  strong  man  can  be  made  to  pass 
from  his  opened  arteries  into  those  of  the  weak  and 
dying  one,  carrying  new  and  vigorous  life  in  its  trans- 
fusion, so  it  is  shown  on  the  higher  plane  of  the  more 
mysterious  but  equally  real  spiritual  life  of  man,  that 
the  blood,  or  life,  of  Jesus  Christ  can  bring  new  and 
permanent  life  into  the  dying  human  nature  of  him 
who  opens  his  being  to  its  reception  by  faith.  No  fact 
in  all  the  universe  has  fuller  attestation  as  a  fact  than 
this.  Every  one  of  you  here  before  me  now  is  already 
a  witness  to  its  truth  in  your  personal  experience,  or 
can  be  competent  to  be  so  to-day. 

The  life  that  Christ  gives  to  those  who  trust  him  is 
not  a  life  that  has  its  beginning  when  this  mortal  life 
has  ended,  but  it  is  a  life  that  shows  itself  in  fulness 
now  and  here,  with  a  promise  of  larger  fulness  here- 
after. It  is  bounding  life  for  the  present,  w^ith  abound- 
ing life  for  the  future.  ''  To  me,"  says  its  possessor, 
"to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain  (Phil,  i  :  21). 
"He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hatJi  eternal  life" 
(John  3  :  36),  says  John  the  Baptist ;  not  by  and  by 
he  sliall  have,  but  now  he  "  liatli  eternal  life." 
Jesus  Christ  reaffirms  this  declaration  in  the  earnest 
words:  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  He  that 
heareth  my  word,  and  believeth  him  that  sent  me, 
hath  eternal  life,  and  cometh  not  into  judgement,  but 
hath  passed  out  of  death  into  life "  (John  5  :  24). 
And  the  signs  of  the  Christ-life  in  a  man  are  visible 


Importance  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      20'' 


o 


in  its  possessor's  personality  at  all  times  and  every- 
where. 

The  best  student-athletes  in  our  American  colleges, 
as  in  the  English  and  Scotch  universities,  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  are  young  men  who  stand  ''complete"  in 
Christ  (Col.  2  :  10).  There  is  no  feminine  grace  or 
loveliness  that  by  itself  can  compare  with  that  womanly 
beauty  which  has  its  crowning  perfection  in  the  Christ- 
like spirit,  giving  added  tenderness  and  fuller  sympa- 
thy and  gentler  winsomeness  to  the  look  of  the  eye, 
to  the  tone  of  the  voice,  and  to  every  movement  of 
the  hand  or  form.  There  is  no  possibility  of  such  in- 
tellectual attainment  and  efficiency  without  the  Christ- 
life  as  with  it.  No  profession  or  occupation  or  em- 
ployment can  be  honored  at  its  best  except  by  him 
who,  with  all  his  special  fitness  for  his  special  work, 
can  say  in  simple-hearted  sincerity,  "  I  live  ;  and  yet 
no  longer  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me  :  and  that  life 
which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  in  faith,  the  faith 
which  is  in  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave 
himself  up  for  me"  (Gal.  2  :  20). 

But  it  is  when  this  mortal  life  is  failing  that  the  im- 
mortal life  which  Christ  has  given  asserts  itself  yet 
more  convincingly  to  the  outside  observer,  so  that 
often  in  the  hour  which  we  call  the  hour  of  death  the 
outer  face  of  the  dying  one  is  transfigured  in  the  light 
of  the  undying  spirit  within,  and  the  failing  tones  of 
his  earthly  voice  catch  the  sweetness  of  the  heavenly 
sounds  which  are  already  vibrating  on  his  spiritual 
ears.      This  exhibit  of  life  in  death  is  more  than  resig- 


204  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


nation,  it  is  more  than  peace,  it  is  more  than  hope  ; 
it  is  the  conscious  joy  of  union  with  Christ ;  it  is  the 
fuller  sense  of  that  eternal  life  which  is  the  free  gift  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 

Among  the  brightest  life-pictures  which  hang  in  the 
galleries  of  my  memory  to-day  are  the  faces  of  those 
who  lived  the  Christ-life,  and  who  gave  proof  of  their 
immortal  life  in  their  dying  hour.  And  some  of  these 
faces  stand  out  in  added  beauty  because  of  the  very 
shadows  which  were  over  them  in  the  years  when  life 
is  ordinarily  at  its  sunniest.  I  recall  one  such,  the  face 
of  an  aged  man  who  was  born  a  deaf-mute  so  long 
ago  that  he  was  already  too  far  on  in  mature  life  to  be 
capable  of  learning  how  to  read  and  spell  when  the 
mode  of  instruction  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  was  intro- 
duced into  this  country. 

The  best  he  could  do  was  to  learn  the  more  primi- 
tive system  of  natural  signs  in  the  use  of  his  hands 
and  eyes.  But  by  that  means  he  was  taught  of  Jesus  ; 
and  with  all  his  heart,  in  childlike  simplicity  of 
trust,  he  believed  on  Jesus,  and  had  life  from  him  ac- 
cordingly. Separated  from  home,  and  living  mostly 
among  strangers,  with  the  bare  necessaries  of  life  se- 
cured to  him,  he  had  little  of  that  which  we  deem  es- 
sential to  human  happiness  ;  but  his  life  was  hid  with 
Christ  in  God,  and  he  toiled  and  endured  uncomplain- 
ingly until  past  three-score  years  and  ten, — and  then  it 
was  that  I  saw  him  last. 

Being-  in  the  villao;e  where  was  his  home,  and  hear- 
ing  of  an  accident  that  had  happened  to  him,  I  went 


Importance  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      205 


to  see  him.  It  was  a  lowly  home  that  he  was  in.  His 
bedroom  was  close  under  the  roof,  in  the  sweltering 
heat  of  midsummer.  In  his  weakness  of  age  he  had 
missed  his  footing,  in  climbing  up  the  dark  stairway 
to  his  room,  and  had  fallen,  breaking  his  right  arm, 
which  was  to  him  both  arm  and  tongue.  There,  on 
his  bed,  in  the  loneliness  of  his  suffocating  roof- 
chamber,    I    found    him    breathing    his     earthly    life 

away. 

When  he  saw  me,  and  recognized  me  as  one  who 
could  communicate  with  him,  his  aged  face  lighted  up 
with  pleasure  ;  and  as  I  made  signs  to  him  that  I  was 
very,  very  sorry  to  find  him  so  disabled,  he  replied  by 
signs  as  well  as  he  could,  saying  that  God  was  very 
good  to  him,  and  that  Christ  had  been  with  him  all 
the  time,  helping  him  to  bear  whatever  he  had  to  bear. 

*'  If  God  wants  me  to  lie  here  a  while  longer,"  he 
said,  "  I  will  wait  here  patiently.  But  if,"  and  as  he 
made  this  sign  the  life  that  was  in  his  aged  form  was 
all  aglow  in  his  transfigured  face,  "  if  Christ  will  let 
me  pass  out  from  here,  I  will  fly  away  and  be  forever 
with  him." 

And  as  he  made  these  signs  I  ''saw  his  face  as  it  had 
been  the  face  of  an  angel"  (Acts  6:  15),  and  I  real- 
ized that  his  dying  life  was  already  a  foretaste  of  that 
life  beyond,  where  "the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  be 
opened,  and  the  ears  of  the  deaf  shall  be  unstopped  ;  " 
where  ''  the  lame  man  [shall]  leap  as  an  hart,  and  the 
tongue  of  the  dumb  shall  sing  ;  "  where  "they  shall  ob- 
tain gladness  and  joy,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee 


2o6  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

away"  (Isa.  35  :  5,  6,  10).  And  if,  indeed,  there  were 
only  the  memory  of  that  one  face  of  Hfe  in  death  in  all 
my  life's  experiences,  I  should  never  have  a  doubt  that 
Christ  had  come  into  this  world  in  order  that  those 
who  trust  him  "  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it  abun- 
dantly "  (John  10:  10).  And  how  much  more  of  such 
evidence  as  this  there  is  in  my  memor}.',  and  in  all  our 
memories  ! 

Life,  peace,  knowledge ;  knowledge,  peace,  life ; 
all  these  are  in  Christ,  and  all  these  Christ  brings  to  all 
who  will  accept  them  by  accepting  him.  For  "  I 
would  have  you  know,  that  the  head  of  every  man  is 
Christ  " — of  every  man  who  will  receive  Christ  as  his 
head,  as  Christ  comes  offering  to  be  a  head  to  the 
headless, — to  give  knowledge  and  peace  and  life  to 
those  who  lack  them  all. 

If,  indeed,  there  be  one  thing  stranger  in  all  the 
world  than  the  fact  that  Christ  proffers  himself  with  all 
these  good  gifts  to  every  man,  it  is  the  other  fact  that 
any  man  refuses  to  accept  the  proffered  Christ,  as  he 
comes  with  these  proffered  gifts.  The  gifts  them- 
selves would  seem  to  be  at  least  worth  the  taking  ; 
but  the  Christ  who  brings  them  ought  surely  to  be 
welcome  for  what  he  is,  and  for  what  he  has  done  for 
men.  Apart  from  the  question  of  personal  gain 
through  receiving  him,  there  is  the  question  of  per- 
sonal gratitnde  to  him,  in  the  memory  of  the  love  that 
he  showed  for  us,  while  he  was  fitting  himself  to  be 
our  Saviour  and  our  Head. 


Importajice  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      207 

Let  me  tell  to  you  an  incident  out  of  my  long-ago 
soldier  life,  as  illustrative — even  though  in  only  the 
faintest  manner — of  the  relation  toward  us  of  this 
loving  Saviour,  and  of  the  spirit  that  ought  to  actuate 
us  in  our  welcome  to  him  as  he  comes  to  proffer  him- 
self anew  to  us. 

It  was  in  the  midsummer  of  1 863  that  I  was  a  pris- 
oner of  war  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Coming 
under  the  suspicion  of  being  a  spy,  in  consequence  of 
an  incident  in  connection  with  a  visit  through  the 
lines,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  in  North  Carolina  the 
year  before,  I  was  separated  from  my  prison  comrades 
of  the  Union  army,  and  was  shut  up  in  the  common 
jail  among  murderers  and  desperadoes  and  other  crim- 
inals of  the  vilest  class  from  the  streets  of  Charleston 
in  the  worst  days  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

The  condition  of  things  on  our  side  seemed  dark  at 
the  best  at  the  time  of  my  capture.  Battles  had 
gone  against  us.  Generals  had  disappointed  us.  At 
our  latest  news  from  the  North,  Gettysburg  still  hung 
in  the  balance.  I  had  heard  cheers  in  the  streets  of 
Charleston  over  the  riots  in  New  York  City,  as  I  was 
brought  toward  the  jail.  To  be  a  prisoner  at  such  a 
time,  with  the  gallows  confronting  me,  and  not  a 
human  being  to  give  me  a  word  or  a  look  of  sym- 
pathy, was,  you  will  believe,  to  be  in  despondency,  if 
not  in  despair — so  far  as  concerned  the  earthly  out- 
look. 

But  oh,  the  scene  in  that  common  jail  and  gathering 
place  of  criminals,  where  I  was  a  prisoner !     I  have 


2o8  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


never  had  such  a  glimpse  of  the  bottomless  pit  as 
there.  The  air  itself  was  stifling,  in  the  foulness  of 
those  close-shut  and  heated  wards.  But  the  moral 
atmosphere  was  fouler  and  more  stifling  still.  Blas- 
phemy and  obscene  speech  poured  out  unceasingly 
from  the  lips  of  demon-like  men,  who  glared  and 
wrangled  and  struggled  in  that  seething  mass  of  sin- 
cursed  humanity.  Occasionally  the  cry  of  "  Murder  " 
centered  all  attention  for  the  moment  on  ruffians  who 
were  rolling  on  the  floor  in  the  angiy  clutch  of  deadly 
hatred,  and  the  strong  arms  of  other  ruffians  were 
taxed  in  separating  the  bitter  combatants.  And  all 
the  while  the  air  seemed  fouler  and  fouler,  and  the 
place  itself  more  suffocating  and  intolerable. 

Shrinking  from  the  encircling  pollution  which 
pressed  upon  me  at  every  turn,  I  found  my  way  into 
one  of  the  cells  opening  into  the  court,  or  corridor, 
where  the  multitude  thronged  and  swayed,  and  there 
I  clambered  up  on  to  the  stone  window-bench  before 
one  ot  the  barred  openings  through  the  heavy  walls 
of  the  jail,  and  drawing  up  my  knees  so  as  to  keep 
within  the  recess  of  the  narrow  opening,  I  bowed  my 
head  on  those  knees  and  gave  way  to  my  feelings  in 
the  utter  weakness  of  despair. 

I  had  not  lost  my  faith  in  God,  but  I  could  find  no 
joy  in  such  a  life  as  opened  to  me — or  as  shut  in 
about  me — there.  I  did  not  want  to  live  any  longer. 
I  could  not  live  any  longer  as  I  was.  Even  if  it  must 
be  to  the  gallows  that  I  should  go — anywhere,  any- 
where, out  of  that  hell  upon  earth  ! 


Importance  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      209 

And  just  then  it  was,  as  I  huddled  there  in  that  jail 
window  recess,  with  my  face  pressed  against  my 
drawn-up  knees,  that  I  was  touched  gently  on  the 
shoulder,  and  a  kindly  voice  said  to  me,  **  You  seem 
troubled,  my  friend.  Maybe  you're  hungry.  Cheer 
up.  Here  is  some  bread."  I  looked  up,  as  much 
surprised  as  if  a  voice  from  heaven  had  spoken  to  me, 
and  there  just  below  me  was  the  winsome  face  of  a 
young  man  who  seemed  all  unlike  the  other  inmates 
of  that  place  of  horrors,  who  was  reaching  up  to  me 
a  loaf  of  soft,  white  bread. 

"  Thank  you,  thank  you,"  I  said,  instinctively.  **  It's 
not  bread  I'm  wanting."  '*  Oh,  but  you  look  hungry," 
he  added.  "You'll  want  it  by  and  by.  It's  good 
bread."  And  he  laid  the  loaf  on  my  knees,  and 
turned  away  into  the  seething  throng,  out  of  my  sight 
again. 

It  was  good  bread,  a  baker's  loaf,  in  marked  con- 
trast with  our  coarse  cornmeal  prison  fare  ;  but  that 
was  not  what  I  was  longing  for.  I  was,  indeed,  hun- 
gry. God  grant  that  no  one  of  you  may  ever  be  so 
hungry  as  I  was  then !  Hungry,  but  not  for  bread. 
Hungry  for  human  sympathy,  and  for  just  such  words 
and  looks  of  loving  cheer  as  that  brother-man  had 
now  brought  me. 

As  he  disappeared  into  the  crowd,  I  felt  that  a 
crushing  weight  had  been  lifted  from  me.  I  drew  a 
long,  full,  free  breath  again.  I  dropped  myself  off 
from  that  window-bench  and  stood  erect.  I  was  a 
different  man  from  a  moment  before.      I  was  in  a  dif- 


2  lo  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

ferent  place.  The  air  seemed  purer.  The  very  walls 
of  the  gloomy  jail  had  moved  outward.  Its  low  ceil- 
ing had  been  lifted  higher.  The  whole  world  was 
another  world  to  me.  I  did  not  want  to  die.  I  was 
glad  I  was  alive,  and  life  was  worth  living.  And  all 
because  of  that  strange  man's  strange  coming  to  me. 

I  turned  after  him.  Pushing  through  the  crowd 
with  a  new  purpose  of  life,  I  pressed  on  until  I  found 
him.  Laying  my  hand  on  his  shoulder,  I  said,  "  Look 
here,  my  friend !  Who  are  you?  How  came  you 
here  ?  "  Not  knowing  who  I  was, — whether  Union  or 
Rebel, — he  answered  cheerily :  "Oh,  I'm  a  Yankee 
soldier.  I'm  from  away  up  in  Connecticut  ;  but  I'm 
fast  down  here  now."  You  will  believe  that  that 
answer  brought  us  only  nearer  together.  I  learned 
that  he  also  was  under  suspicion  as  a  spy ;  but  he 
had  been  longer  in  that  place  than  I  had  been,  and 
had  better  adapted  himself  to  his  condition.  He  was, 
moreover,  a  true-hearted  disciple  of  Jesus,  and,  seeing 
me  in  my  apparent  need,  he  had  come  to  me,  with 
the  love  of  Christ  in  his  heart  and  a  loaf  of  bread  in 
his  hand,  and,  while  I  was  hungry  and  sick  and  in 
prison,  he  had  ministered  unto  me, — God  bless  him  ! 

In  a  little  time  I  was  out  from  that  gloomy  jail,  and 
was  with  my  fellow-prisoners  of  the  Union  army,  first 
in  Columbia  and  afterward  at  the  "Libby."  He  who 
had  brought  me  to  new  life  and  hope  there  was  taken 
first  to  Salisbury,  then  to  Belle  Island,  and  after 
that  to  Andersonville.  I  saw  him  no  more  during  the 
weary,  dragging  days  of  the  war. 


Imp 07^ lance  of  a  Head  to  a  Soldier      211 

Years  went  by.  The  war  was  over.  I  was  again 
with  my  home  loved  ones.  One  summer  evening,  as 
I  was  in  my  front  hallway,  my  home  door-bell  rang. 
As  I  opened  the  door  myself,  being  near  it,  there 
stood  that  man  who  had  been  so  much  to  me  in  that 
gloomiest  hour  of  my  life  in  Charleston  jail.  One 
glimpse  was  sufficient.  The  past  was  again  the  pres- 
ent, to  my  mind. 

What  do  you  think  I  did  ?  Shut  the  door  in  his 
face,  and  left  him  standing  outside  ?  Do  you  think  I 
did  that  ?  Would  you  hear  me  with  patience  for 
another  moment,  if  you  knew  I  had  done  that  ?  Do 
you  doubt  that  in  an  instant  my  arms  were  about  him, 
with  a  cry  of  glad  and  grateful  welcome,  and  that  the 
next  minute  my  home  dear  ones  were  called  together 
to  give  added  welcome  to  this  man  to  whom  they  and 
I,  in  a  sense,  owed  everything  ?  No,  you  do  not 
doubt  that  I  did  just  what  j<?z^  would  have  done  in 
just  such  circumstances. 

One  who  did  infinitely  more  for  every  one  of  you 
than  that  man  did  for  me  in  Charleston  jail,  is  saying 
at  this  very  moment :  **  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door 
and  knock  :  if  any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the 
door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him, 
and  he  with  me  "  (Rev.  3  :  20).  Will  any  one  of  you 
keep  the  door  of  your  heart  longer  closed  against  His 
incoming? 


DANGER  OF  COUNTING  CONSCIENCE 
A  SAFE  GUIDE 


IX 


DANGER  OF  COUNTING  CONSCIENCE 
A  SAFE  GUIDE 

It  was  long  before  our  Civil  War,  in  the  intense  and 
bitter  political  conflicts  between  advocates  of  slaveiy 
and  of  its  emancipation,  that  I  first  came  to  realize 
that  a  man  was  not  sure  to  be  doing  right  or  thinking 
right  when  he  was  acting  conscientiously.  Then,  on 
considering  the  matter  more  carefully,  and  observing 
my  fellows  far  and  near,  I  was  confident  that  among 
the  worst  evil-doers  in  the  world  were  those  who  were 
doing  wrong  conscientiously. 

Men  will  lie,  will  steal,  will  pass  counterfeit  money, 
will  hate  their  fellows,  will  commit  murder,  will  do  any 
and  every  vile  and  infamous  thing  that  can  be  imag- 
ined, with  full  confidence  that  it  is  their  duty  to  do 
so.  I  began  to  ask  myself  whether  the  common 
idea  is  a  correct  one,  that  man  has  a  safe  guide  in  his 
conscience.  As  I  sought  to  find  the  truth  brought  out 
in  books  of  ethics  and  moral  philosophy,  I  gained 
little  help  or  light  from  them.  As  I  turned  afresh  to 
the  Bible  in  my  dilemma,  I  found  that  in  this,  as  in  so 
many  things  else,  the  Bible  and  many  books  on  Chris- 
tian ethics  were  at  variance. 

215 


2 1 6  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


And  thus  I  came  to  write  and  preach  this  sermon 
on  ** moral  color-bHndness,"  or  being  misled  to  our 
ruin  by  doing  evil  conscientiously.  It  was  just  after 
I  had  first  preached  this  sermon  that  a  new  book  on 
ethics  appeared,  written  by  President  E.  G.  Robinson, 
of  Brown  University,  in  which  he  agreed  with  the 
Bible,  although  not  with  most  books  of  Christian  phil- 
osophy, in  claiming  that  man  is  not  given  by  nature  a 
safe  and  sure  guide  to  show  him  what  is  right  in  con- 
duct and  morals. 

Thus  finding  the  Bible  re-enforced  by  at  least  one 
book  of  more  modern  ethics,  I  was  encouraged  to 
preach  God's  truth,  despite  popular  religious  opinion, 
on  the  subject  of  "  Conscience."  This  sermon  I 
preached  at  the  Payson  Church  in  Easthampton, 
Massachusetts,  before  the  students  of  Williston  Sem- 
inary; again  in  the  chapel  of  Amherst  College,  and  in 
the  chapel  of  the  Agricultural  College  at  Amherst. 
Yet  again  I  preached  it  at  Northfield,  at  the  opening 
of  an  annual  session  of  the  World's  Student  Confer- 
ence in  Mr.  Moody's  day,  and  I  was  glad  thus  to 
bring  its  important  truth  before  so  many  young  Chris- 
tian workers. 


MORAL  COLOR-BLINDNESS 

Look  therefore  whether  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be 
not  darkness''  (Luke  ii  :  35). 

A  great  deal  is  said  in  our  day  about  "  color-blind- 
ness," especially  in  its  bearing  upon  the  efficiency  and 
trustworthiness  of  railroad  men.  It  has  been  found, 
by  means  of  careful  experiments,  that  from  two  persons 
to  two  hundred  in  every  one  thousand  are  unable  to 
distinguish  clearly  one  color  from  another, — some  per- 
sons being  so  totally  blind  to  color  as  to  see  no  differ- 
ence between  a  strawberry  and  its  leaf,  except  in 
form  ;  others  being  confused  over  the  varying  shades 
of  colors  which  they  recognize  as  not  identical. 

Inasmuch  as  the  danger-signal  on  railroad  tracks 
by  night  is  a  red  light,  it  is  obviously  of  prime  im- 
portance that  an  engine-driver  or  a  switchman  should 
be  able  to  distinguish  red  from  white  or  green,  for  a 
mistake  at  this  point  might  hurl  a  train-load  of  pas- 
sengers to  destruction.  And  the  perils  from  color- 
blindness are  largely  increased  by  the  fact  that  those 
who  are  afflicted  with  it  are  likely  to  count  their  sight 
as  good  as  anybody's,  unless  the  plain  truth  of  the 
matter  is  in  some  way  forced  upon  them  from  outside 

sources. 

217 


2 1 8  Shoes  and  Ratio7is  for  a  Long  March 

Hence  it  is  that  our  great  railroad  companies  have 
latterly  been  in  the  habit  of  testing  the  vision  of  their 
employees,  at  the  hands  of  skilled  oculists,  finding  in 
some  cases  that  from  ten  to  twenty-five  per  cent  of  all 
their  engine-drivers  and  signal-men  were  at  fault  in 
color-judging.  In  view  of  these  facts  the  warning  cry 
has  been  reiterated  by  the  public  press  and  by  the 
traveling  public  in  the  ears  of  railroad  managers  every- 
where, until  it  could  not  but  be  heard  :  "Beware  of 
color-blindness !  See  to  it  that  the  men  who  guide 
your  trains  know  light  from  darkness,  know  red  from 
yellow  and  green  !  " 

And  on  a  higher  plane,  and  in  a  more  important 
sphere,  this  warning  is  the  cry  of  the  text  I  have 
chosen  for  our  evening's  gathering  at  the  opening  of 
this  Students'  Conference  for  Bible  study:  ''Look 
therefore  whether  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  not 
darkness"  !     Beware  of  moral  color-blindness  ! 

The  words  of  our  text  are  the  w^ords  of  our  Lord 
Jesus, — of  him  who  never  sounded  a  needless  alarm, 
and  whose  warnings  have  always  more  meaning  than 
their  surface-appearing.  He  is  speaking  of  the  eye 
as  the  avenue  of  light  from  without  to  the  soul  within, 
and  of  the  importance  of  keeping  this  w^indow  of  the 
soul  transparent  and  unblurred.  "When  thine  eye  is 
single,"  undivided  as  a  light-transmitter,  he  says, 
"  thy  whole  body  also  is  full  of  light  ;  but  when  it 
[the  eye]  is  evil  [untrustworthy  through  its  blurring], 
thy  body  also  is  full  of  darkness  "  (Luke  1 1  :  34). 
And  then,  as  another  evangelist  reports  it,  our  Lord 


Conscience  not  a  Safe  Gtiide  219 

adds,  in  recognition  of  the  danger  of  such  a  state  of 
things,  "  If  therefore  the  Hght  that  is  in  thee  be 
darkness,  how  great  is  the  darkness  !  "  (Matt.  6  :  23.) 
What  perils  are  before  a  soul,  on  its  life-track,  when 
that  soul  is  morally  color-blind  ! 

But  you  may  be  prompted  at  once  to  ask.  Does  not  a 
man  know  by  nature  the  difference  between  right  and 
wrong  ?  Has  not  God  given  to  every  man,  in  what  we 
call  "the  conscience,"  a  sure  test  of  moral  light  and 
moral  darkness  ?  No  !  most  decidedly,  no  !  Man  does 
not  by  nature  know  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong. 
"  Conscience  "  is  Jiot  in  and  of  itself  a  safe  guide  in 
morals.  It  is  not  enough  for  a  man  to  do  "  as  well 
as  he  knows  how,"  and  in  so  doing  "  to  have  a  con- 
science void  of  offence  toward  God  and  men  alway." 
He  may  do  all  this,  and  yet  be  sadly  wrong.  If  he 
is  morally  color-blind,  a  man  is  likely  to  be  wrong — 
conscientiously. 

That  faculty  or  element  in  our  nature  which  we 
call  **  conscience  "  is  set  within  us  as  a  monitor,  not  as 
a  teacher,  in  the  school  of  morals.  Conscience  tells 
us  that  we  oiigJit  to  do  right,  but  conscience  does  not 
tell  us  zuJiat  is  right.  Conscience  lays  down  no  law 
for  us  to  observe,  but  it  reminds  us  faithfully  to  ob- 
serve the  law  as  it  has  been  laid  down  before  us. 

Instruction  in  the  letter  and  spirit  of  God's  law 
must  come  to  us  from  without,  before  conscience  can 
help  to  hold  us  to  that  law.  "The  lamp  of  thy  body 
is  thine  eye  "  (Luke  11  :  34).  To  begin  with,  the  law 
is  outside  of  the  body  and  the  conscience  is  inside  ; 


2  20  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

hence  it  is  that  so  much  depends  on  the  clearness  of 
the  eye,  as  a  means  of  hght,  in  bringing  conscience 
and  the  law  together.  "Howbeit,  I  had  not  known 
sin,  except  through  the  law,"  says  Paul:  "for  I  had 
not  known  coveting,  except  the  law  had  said,  Thou 
shalt  not  covet"  (Rom.  7  :  7).  Mark  you,  Paul  does 
not  say  there  would  have  been  no  sin  except  for  the 
law  ;  but  that  lie  would  never  have  known  sin  to  be 
sin,  from  his  uninstructed  conscience.  And  Paul's 
conscience  was  fully  up  to  the  average  standard  at 
the  start. 

Who  supposes  that  Abraham  or  Jacob  knew  by 
nature  that  it  was  wrong  to  lie?  Who  believes  that 
their  consciences  reproached  them  for  having  more 
wives  than  one?  Jesus  declared  that  the  time  would 
come  when  those  who  killed  his  followers  would  think, 
in  their  moral  color-blindness,  that  they  were  offering 
service  unto  God  (John  16:2).  And  Paul  testified  of 
himself,  as  an  aforetime  opposer  of  Jesus:  "I  verily 
thought  with  myself,  that  I  ought  to  do  many  things 
contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth "  (Acts 
26  :  9). 

When  a  heaven-sent  light  flashed  into  Paul's  eyes, 
on  his  way  to  Damascus,  he  had  a  new  understanding 
of  the  truth  in  Jesus ;  and  from  that  time  forward  his 
conscience  had  a  correct  standard,  so  far,  to  conform 
to.  His  conscience  had  not  changed  ;  but  his  know- 
ledge of  the  truth  had.  To  be  cured  of  his  spiritual 
color-blindness  cost  Paul  his  entire  eyesight  for  a  sea- 
son;  and  "  a  stake  in  the  flesh  "  was  left  with  him  for 


Conscience  not  a  Safe  Guide  221 

his  lifetime.  The  cure  of  spiritual  or  moral  color- 
blindness is  often  a  severe  operation,  an  operation 
from  which  both  flesh  and  spirit  recoil ;  but  there  is 
no  safety  until  it  is  accomplished. 

Our  ancestors  in  this  country,  North  as  well  as 
South,  were  as  conscientious  in  slave-holding,  in  rum- 
making  and  rum-drinking,  in  lottery-running  and  in 
dueling,  as  they  were  in  battling  for  political  inde- 
pendence. Their  consciences,  meanwhile,  were  active 
enough  ;  the  trouble  was  in  their  moral  eyesight. 

It  is  said  to  be  an  authenticated  fact,  that  godly  old 
President  Stiles,  of  Yale  College,  wrote  a  letter  to  a 
friend  in  the  West  Indies,  proposing  to  send  a  hogs- 
head of  New  England  rum  in  barter  for  an  able-bodied 
negro  slave.  Still  later,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Nathan  Strong, 
pastor  of  my  old  home  church  in  Hartford,  was,  as  I 
have  been  told,  the  owner  of  a  distillery  while  in  the 
active  pastorate.  Not  being  so  successful  a  distiller 
as  he  was  pastor,  he  failed  in  the  rum  business,  and 
a  civil  judgment  was  rendered  against  him  accord- 
ingly. To  evade  the  sheriff's  execution,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  shut  himself  in  the  parsonage  week-days  for 
a  series  of  weeks ;  but  when  Sundays  came  he  moved 
out  in  solemn  dignity,  with  his  cocked  hat  and  knee- 
breeches,  and  passed  across  to  the  church  to  preach 
the  gospel  as  usual.  No  civil  process  could  disturb 
him  on  Sundays.  His  conscience  does  not  seem  to 
have  disturbed  him,  on  the  distillery  question,  any  day 
of  the  week.  There  are  churches  still  standing,  here 
in  New  England,  which  were  built  with  the  proceeds 


2  2  2  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

of  lotteries  duly  authorized  for  that  sacred  purpose,  at 
the  prayerful  request  of  ministers  and  church-members. 

If  our  consciences  work  differently  from  the  con- 
sciences of  our  fathers,  on  these  points,  it  is  because 
our  moral  eyesight  has  been  trained  to  finer  distinc- 
tions in  color,  under  the  treatment  of  those  whom  God 
has  set  to  be  spiritual  oculists. 

Even  now,  and  among  ourselves,  there  are  those 
who  can  not  see  the  difference  between  red  and  yellow, 
or  between  black  and  white,  on  important  moral  ques- 
tions. Many  whose  moral  eyesight  is  now  clear  as 
to  the  black  and  white,  have  a  blur  in  their  vision 
as  to  the  yellow  and  red  when  they  look  at  the  civil 
rights  of  the  Chinese  or  the  Indian  in  our  country. 
There  are  others  who  really  believe  that  it  is  right  to 
lie  when  a  good  purpose  can  be  helped  on  by  lying, 
or  when  lying  seems  a  practical  necessity.  Men  of 
wealth,  or  men  of  moderate  means,  do  not  always 
know  when  they  are  using  their  property  faithfully  and 
in  wise  prudence,  as  God's  stewards,  and  when  they 
are  shutting  their  pockets  and  hearts  against  a  call 
which  they  can  not  refuse  without  sinning.  Signs  of 
moral  color-blindness  or  of  imperfect  moral  vision  are 
still  to  be  seen  by  us  on  every  side  ;  and  mark  you, 
also,  they  are  still  to  be  seen  in  us  by  those  who  test 
our  knowledge  of  moral  colors. 

Be  it  remembered,  however,  that  a  man's  thinking 
he  sees  the  truth  aright  does  not  shield  him  from  the 
consequences  of  his  error.  Conscientious  wrong- 
doing is  never  safe   doing.      *'  Look  therefore,"  says 


Conscience  not  a  Safe  Guide  223 

our  text,  ''whether  the  light  which  is  in  thee  be  not 
darkness"!  And  ee'/zj' look?  Because  in  moral  color- 
blindness there  is  moral  peril,  and  you  may  be  morally 
color-blind  without  knowing  it. 

The  Mosaic  law  declared  :  *'  If  any  one  sin,  and  do 
any  of  the  things  which  the  Lord  hath  commanded 
not  to  be  done  ;  though  he  knew  it  not,  yet  is  he 
guilty,  and  shall  bear  his  iniquity"  (Lev.  5:  17). 
The  lips  of  the  loving  Jesus  said  also  of  the  sinning 
servant  :  "  He  that  knew  not,  and  did  things  worthy 
of  stripes,  shall  be  beaten  "  (Luke  12  :  48) — although 
with  fewer  stripes  than  the  conscious  transgressor. 
The  divine  law  runs  through  the  kingdom  of  both 
nature  and  grace.  "Whatsoever  a  man  soweth," — 
not  what  he  thinks  he  sows,  not  what  he  purposes  to 
sow,  but  what  he  actually  does  sow, — "  that  shall  he 
also  reap  "  (Gal.  6  :  7). 

If  a  color-blind  engine-driver  mistakes  a  red  signal 
for  a  white  one  at  an  open  drawbridge,  the  resulting 
calamity  is  as  terrible  to  the  train-load  of  passengers 
as  if  he  had  deliberately  defied  a  token  of  danger 
which  he  read  correctly.  If  one  violates  the  civil  law 
unconsciously,  he  is  not  exempt  from  legal  penalties 
because  of  his  false  sense  of  security.  If  a  man  has 
bought  stolen  goods  without  knowing  it,  their  real 
owner  can  reclaim  those  goods  at  the  holder's  cost. 
If  there  is  a  flaw  in  the  title  of  a  man's  homestead, 
the  home-dweller  can  be  driven  from  that  home  mer- 
cilessly. No  matter  what  he  paid  for  it ;  no  matter 
how  much  he  is  attached  to  it ;  no  matter  how  neces- 


2  24  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


sary  it  is  to  the  comfort  or  the  safety  of  himself  or 
of  his  family, — if  his  title  is  not  sound  he  must  leave 
it ;  he  must  go  out,  it  may  be,  into  the  cold  world, 
unsheltered  and  homeless.  His  color-blindness  in 
reading  the  title  does  not  make  the  false  title  a  true 

one. 

Nor  is  one's  danger  of  misreading  the  signals  along 
his  personal  life-course,  of  misconceiving  the  ethical 
requirements  of  the  law  to  which  he  owes  obedience, 
or  of  mistaking  the  value  of  his  homestead  title-deeds, 
any  less  in  the  moral  world  than  it  is  in  the  material 
world.  It  is  the  gentle-spirited  Cowper  who  empha- 
sizes this  truth  in  his  verse : 

"  Man,  on  the  dubious  waves  of  error  toss'd, 
His  ship  half  founder' d,  and  his  compass  lost, 
Sees,  far  as  human  optics  may  command, 
A  sleeping  fog,  and  fancies  it  dry  land ; 
Spreads  all  his  canvas,  every  sinew  pUes ; 
Pants  for  it,  aims  at  it,  enters  it,  and  dies ! 
Then  farewell  all  self-satisfying  schemes, 
His  well-built  systems,  philosophic  dreams  ; 
Deceitful  views  of  future  bliss,  farewell ! 
He  reads  his  sentence  at  the  flames  of  hell. 
Hard  lot  of  man — to  toil  for  his  reward 
Of  virtue,  and  yet  lose  it !     Wherefore  hard  ?— 

"He  that  would  win  the  race  must  guide  his  horse 
Obedient  to  the  customs  of  the  course  ; 
Else,  though  unequaled  to  the  goal  he  flies, 
A  meaner  than  himself  shall  gain  the  prize. 
Grace  leads  the  right  way  ;  if  you  choose  the  wrong, 
Take  it — and  perish." 

Ah  !  there  is  a  weight  of  meaning  in  the  words  of 


Conscience  not  a  Safe  Guide  225 


our  Lord,  ''Look  therefore  whether  the  hght  that  is 
in  thee  be  not  darkness."  Look  !  for  a  woe  comes 
from  mistaking  the  wrong  for  the  right.  "Woe  unto 
them  that  call  evil  good,  and  good  evil  ;  that  put  dark- 
ness for  light,  and  light  for  darkness  ;  that  put  bitter 
for  sweet,  and  sweet  for  bitter  !  Woe  unto  them  that 
are  wise  in  their  own  eyes,  and  prudent  in  their  own 
sight!  "  (Isa.  5  :  20,  21) — but  whose  eyes  are  not  sin- 
gle, and  whose  sight  is  not  clear. 

It  is  a  sad  thing  to  be  serving  the  Devil  conscien- 
tiously ;  to  be  a  scoundrel,  and  not  to  suspect  it ;  to 
be  dishonest,  or  unfaithful,  or  selfish,  or  vile,  while 
thinking  one's  self  honest  and  true,  and  generous  and 
pure  ;  to  be  starting  one's  self  or  one's  companions 
in  the  way  of  evil,  without  a  thought  of  error  or  dan- 
ger,— a  sad  thing,  I  say,  and  as  ruinous  as  it  is  sad. 

But  just  what  is  the  cause  of  all  this  trouble  ?  and 
where  is  its  cure  ?  If  man  does  not  know  rieht  and 
wrong  by  nature,  if  his  conscience  depends  for  its 
proper  guidance  on  instruction  from  outside,  how  is  it 
that  he  so  often  mistakes  wrong  for  right?  and  how 
can  he  know  the  true  shades  of  distinction  between 
right  and  wrong  ? 

Men's  consciences  are  at  fault  because  of  their  re- 
ceiving wrong  instruction,  and  of  their  being  subjected 
to  wrong  influences.  Every  person  does  receive  in- 
struction, and  every  person  is  influenced  by  his  sur- 
roundings. Not  every  person,  however,  is  rightly 
instructed  or  rightly  influenced.  Hence  the  wrong 
standards  of  conscience-judging. 


226  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


I   knew  of  a  young  girl   in   New   York   City,  born 
blind,  who,  until  she   was   eight   or  ten  years  of  age, 
and  so  long  as  I  knew  of  her,  was  utterly  ignorant  of 
the  fact  that  she  was  blind.      Her  parents   had   per- 
sistently kept  from  her  the  fact  that  she  was  different 
from  other  children.     All  her  training  had  in  view  the 
concealment  of  this  fact ;  and  as  she  had  never  seen, 
she  did  not  know  what  it  was  to  see  or  not  to   see. 
She  used  freely  the  language  of  sight,  with   her  own 
ideas  of  that  language.     She  spoke  of  being  glad  to 
see   those  whom  she  met,  and  of  being  pleased  with 
their  looks  ;  of  enjoying  the  sunlight,    and  the   clear 
sky,  and  the  fine  scenery,  when  she  went  out  after  a 
storm   had   passed  away.     So  little  thought  had  she 
that  she  was  walking  in  darkness,  that  on  one  occa- 
sion, when  a  stranger  child  spoke  out  pityingly,  in  her 
hearing,   of   her  misfortune,   she   ran  merrily  to  her 
parents  and  said,  "There's  a  little  girl  over  there  who 
says  I  am  blind.      I  think  I  can  see  as  well  as  j/^^  can." 

Is  it  strange  that  a  child  trained  like  that  one  should 
have  wrong  ideas — should  conscientiously  be  in  error 
— as  to  the  differences  between  colors  ?  There  is  a 
great  deal  of  such  training  in  the  world  of  morals. 

Orientals  are  taught  from  infancy  that  lying  to  an 
enemy,  or  where  anything  can  be  made  by  lying,  is  a 
duty ;  and  they  try  to  attend  to  that  duty.  American 
Indians  are  taught  that  a  man's  character  is  best  rated 
by  the  scalps  he  can  show  ;  so  they  risk  their  lives  for 
scalps.  The  Dyaks  of  Borneo  are  taught  that  skulls 
are  \vorthier  trophies   than   scalps;   and  they  ''hunt 


Conscience  not  a  Safe  Guide  227 

heads"  accordingly.  Our  fathers  were  taught  that 
human  slavery  was  a  divine  institution,  and  that  rum 
was  to  be  swallowed  gratefully  as  a  "gift  of  God;" 
and  they  lived  up  to  those  teachings.  How  could  it 
be  that  men's  consciences  would  discern  truth  from 
error  on  points  where  their  instruction  had  from  the 
begfinnine  been  as  much  at  fault  as  in  these  instances 
in  the  case  of  our  fathers  and  others  ?  Is  it  not  in- 
deed possible,  if  not  probable,  that  in  lesser  points  or 
in  greater  ones  zve  also  have  been  wrongly  instructed 
on  points  of  morals  down  to  the  present  hour,  and 
that  this  will  be  evident  to  those  who  come  after  us 
with  better  instruction  than  we  have  had  ? 

Even  if  men  are  not  explicitly  taiigJit  that  wrong 
is  right,  they  are  likely  to  infei'  that  error  is  truth  from 
the  prevailing  practices  about  them.  The  conscience 
of  even  the  well-instructed  man  is,  at  the  best,  like  a 
ship's  compass  ;  not  like  the  polar  star,  at  which  the 
compass  is  supposed  to  point.  The  compass  is  safe 
to  steer  by  as  long  as  its  needle  points  where  it  ought 
to  point;  but  the  compass  needle  may  be  forcibly 
deflected  from  the  pole,  or  it  may  be  drawn  aside 
by  the  metallic  attractions,  or  by  the  meteorological 
influences  of  its  surroundings,  and  then,  of  course,  it 
is  untrustworthy. 

Scotch  ship-builders  on  the  Clyde  are  accustomed 
to  send  their  newly  launched  vessels  fifty  miles  down 
into  the  open  sea,  in  order  to  test  their  compasses 
away  from  the  diverting  attractions  of  the  iron-stocked 
yards  near  their  building.     And,  in  crossing  the  At- 


2  28  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


lantic,  our  steamships  have  to  calculate  each  day,  and 
make  allowance  for  the  **  magnetic  variations"  of  the 
compasses  by  which  they  steer.  It  would  be  well  if 
all  of  us  understood  just  how  far  from  the  true  meri- 
dian our  moral  compass  needles  were  deflected  by  the 
attractions  of  gold,  or  pleasure,  or  appetite,  or  ambi- 
tion, or  love,  or  hatred,  or  by  the  social  atmosphere 
of  our  immediate  neighborhood. 

Out  of  all  the  choicer  children  of  Judah  who  were 
prisoners  in  Babylon  in  the  days  of  Daniel,  young  men 
who  were  **  skilful  in  all  wisdom,  and  cunning  in 
knowledge,  and  understanding  science,  and  such  as 
had  ability  to  stand  in  the  king's  palace  "  (Dan.  i  :  4), 
there  were  only  four  who  had  independence  and  cour- 
age enough  to  choose  for  themselves  what  they  should 
eat  and  drink,  regardless  of  the  habits  and  customs 
of  the  people  among  whom  they  lived  ;  and  to  prove 
in  their  own  experience — as  has  been  so  often  proven 
since — that  water  drunk  in  the  path  of  duty  is  a  safer 
drink  than  **  the  native  wines"  of  a  wine-growing 
country  drunk  in  accordance  with  the  social  demands 
of  the  region. 

Modern  travelers  commonly  do  not  get  half-way  to 
Babylon  before  they  conclude  that  it  is  more  prudent 
to  follow  the  example  of  the  multitude,  on  the  drink- 
ing question,  than  to  stand  out  all  by  themselves,  as 
did  Daniel  and  Shadrach  and  Meshach  and  Abed- 
nego  ;  and  so  they  drink  the  light  wines  of  the  Euro- 
pean tables,  as  "  everybody  else  does."  And  when 
they  have  come  to  that  conclusion,  they  are  in  a  good 


Conscience  not  a  Safe  Guide  229 

state  to  consider  further  whether  it  is  wise  to  be  cast 
into  a  den  of'Hons  or  a  fiery  furnace  of  invidious  com- 
ment, rather  than  conform  to  the  universal  custom  of 
the  country  they  are  in,  as  to  times  and  modes  of 
worship,  as  to  local  amusements,  and  as  to  a  courteous 
recognition  of  the  images  which  King  Fashion  has  set 
up  to  be  admired  and  extolled. 

If,  indeed,  they  remain  at  home,  they  are  still  liable 
to  have  their  standards  of  conscience-prompting 
shaped  for  them  by  those  who  are  about  them.  Isn't 
it  all  right  to  go  to  the  theater  if  some  of  our  foremost 
church-members  go  there?  How  can  card-playing 
be  wrong  if  some  of  our  prayer-meeting  leaders 
practice  it  ?  The  dances  in  which  the  Sunday-school 
superintendent  takes  a  part  so  freely — are  they  not 
to  be  counted  harmless  for  the  teachers  as  well  ? 
What  harm  can  there  be  in  tobacco-using  when  so 
many  ministers  enjoy  their  cigars  ?  Who  can  put  up 
another  business  standard  than  the  generally  accepted 
standard  in  business?  If  the  party  methods  of  the 
best  political  party  are  not  to  your  liking,  where  can 
you  look  for  purer  methods?  And  so  all  along  the 
scale  of  morals. 

As,  when  one  holds  to  his  eyes  a  bit  of  colored 
glass,  he  sees  through  it  the  whole  face  of  nature 
tinged  accordingly, — paled  with  the  sickly  blue,  flam- 
ing with  the  glaring  red,  or  softened  with  the 'refresh- 
ing green, — so  they  who  look  at  customs  and  methods 
through  the  medium  of  their  local  public  sentiment, 
receive  within  themselves,   through  the    window    of 


230  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

their  eye,  only  the  hue  of  moral  light  which  colors 
that  public  sentiment ;  and  all  things  at  which  they 
gaze  are  blue,  or  red,  or  green,  accordingly.  **  But 
they  themselves,  measuring  themselves  by  themselves, 
and  comparing  themselves  with  themselves,  are  with- 
out understanding"  (2  Cor.  10:  12).  The  light  that 
is  in  them  is  dimness,  if  not  indeed  darkness. 

In  view  of  all  this,  however,  what  hope  is  there  of 
our  knowing  clearly  the  right  from  the  wrong?  How- 
can  we  have  a  correct  standard  for  our  conscience- 
promptings? 

God  is  the  source  of  moral  light.  The  revelation 
of  God  in  his  Son  and  in  his  word,  gives  to  our  con- 
sciences their  only  safe  standard  and  guide.  He 
who  uttered  the  words  of  warning  in  our  text,  "Look 
therefore  that  the  light  which  is  in  thee  be  not  dark- 
ness," said  also,  "I  am  the  light  of  the  world:  he 
that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in  the  darkness,  but 
shall  have  the  light  of  life"  (John  8  :  12).  Of  the 
Scriptures  he  said,  "These  are  they  which  bear  wit- 
ness of  me"  (John  5  :  39).  His  prayer  to  his  Father 
for  his  loved  ones  was,  "Sanctify  them  [keep  them 
holy]  in  the  truth  [within  the  limits  of  truth]  :  thy 
word  is  truth"  (John  17:  17). 

The  knowledge  of  God's  truth  came  originally  from 
without,  through  the  eye,  into  man's  inner  being  for 
the  rie'ht  instruction  of  his  conscience.  Nor  is  there 
a  human  being  who  has  not  before  him  some  vestige 
of  God's  primal  revelation  of  his  truth ;  some  gleam 
on  his  conscience  of  "  the  true  light,  even  the  light 


Conscience  not  a  Safe  Guide  231 

which  hghteth  every  man,  coming  into  the  world  " 
(John  I  :  9).  And,  however  small  may  be  the  meas- 
ure of  this  light  remaining  to  others,  we  have  it  avail- 
able in  all  its  fulness  and  purity. 

"Wherewithal  shall  a  young  man  cleanse  his  way? 
By  taking  heed  thereto  according  to  thy  word  "  (Psa. 
119  :  9).  "The  commandment  of  the  Lord  is  pure, 
enlightening  the  eyes  "  (Psa.  19  :  8).  "  The  command- 
ment is  a  lamp;  and  the  law  is  light"  (Prov.  6  :  23). 
"Moreover    by  them    is   thy  servant  warned"   (Psa. 

19  :  11). 

I  have  said  that  the  conscience  is  like  a  compass  ; 
but,  in  another  sense,  it  is  like  a  chronometer, — the 
watch  used  at  sea  in  determining  a  vessel's  longitude. 
The  chronometer  is  not  itself  the  true  standard  of 
time ;  but  it  is  conformed  as  nearly  as  may  be  to  that 
standard,  and  then  its  rate  of  gain  or  true  loss  is  care- 
fully noted,  in  order  that  true  time  may  be  learned 
from  it.  A  wise  shipmaster  is  jealously  watchful  of 
that  piece  of  delicate  mechanism,  on  which  depends 
his  knowledge  of  his  bearings  and  the  safety  of  his 
navigating.  Before  each  voyage  it  must  be  newly 
rated  by  the  great  central  light  of  day ;  and  at  all 
times  it  must  be  tenderly  handled,  and  shielded  from 
harsh  jarring,  lest  its  nicer  adjustment  be  destroyed. 

Thus,  also,  should  man's  conscience  be  set  by  the 
true  standard  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  rated 
frequently  by  the  Bible  record,  and  guarded  watch- 
fully, lest  by  harsh  using  its  accuracy  be  lost,  and  the 
soul   be  in   mid-ocean  without  a  guide.      Unless  you 


232   Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


know  how  much  your  conscience-chronometer  slows 
or  quickens  in  the  various  latitudes  where  you  sail, 
you  will  never  be  able  to  learn  your  bearings  accur- 
ately or  to  lay  your  course  correctly  across  the  sea  of 
life  in  your  voyage  homeward. 

When  your  conscience  would  justify  you  in  getting 
even  with  one  who  has  wronged  you,  and  in  "giving 
him  as  good  as  he  sent,"  take  a  fresh  look  at  the  Bible 
injunction  :  ''Avenge  not  yourselves,  beloved,  but 
give  place  unto  wrath :  for  it  is  written.  Vengeance 
belongeth  unto  me ;  I  will  recompense,  saith  the 
Lord"  (Rom.  12  :  19),  and  observe  that  your  con- 
science-chronometer runs  ahead  of  the  Bible  standard 
just  there. 

If  you  find,  by  the  Bible  teachings,  that  one-tenth 
of  your  income  and  one-seventh  of  your  time  belong 
to  the  Lord  absolutely  and  outright,  to  begin  with, 
and  that  your  hold  on  the  other  nine-tenths  of  your 
income  and  six-sevenths  of  your  time  is  not  that  of 
unconditional  ownership,  but  of  conditioned  Christian 
stewardship,  then  see  whether  your  conscience-chro- 
nometer does  not  run  pretty  slow  in  that  latitude.  A 
rating  up  of  Christian  consciences  generally,  by  this 
standard,  would  add  ciphers  pretty  fast  at  the  right 
hand  of  benevolent  contributions.  There  would  be 
little  trouble  then  about  the  support  of  missionaries 
or  the  building  of  new  churches. 

You  may  have  been  accustomed  to  feel  that  you 
had  ov\y  yojirself  \.o  consider  in  all  questions  concern- 
ing dress,  or  diet,  or  amusements  ;  whereas  the  Bible 


Conscie7ice  not  a  Safe  Guide  233 


lays  stress  on  your  duty  in  such  things,  in  view  of  the 
tender  consciences  and  temptabiHty  of  weaker  disci- 
ples about  you;  since  "we  that  are  strong  ought  to 
bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak,  and  not  to  please 
ourselves"  (Rom.  15  :  i);  therefore,  "  It  is  good  not 
to  eat  flesh,  nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  to  do  anything 
whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth  "  (Rom.  14:21).  Rec- 
ognizing the  fahing-off  of  your  conscience-chronome- 
ter at  this  point,  have  the  discrepancy  in  mind  in  all 
decisions  of  duty. 

Understand,  in  fact,  at  every  turning-point  of  con- 
duct, that  "there  is  a  way  which  seemeth  right  unto  a 
man,  but  the  end  thereof  are  the  ways  of  death" 
(Prov.  14  :  12)  ;  and  let  your  cry,  at  every  such  time, 
be  to  your  Saviour, — not  to  your  conscience,  but  to 
your  Saviour:  "Shew  me  ///y  ways,  O  Lord;  teach 
me  thy  paths"  (Psa.  25  :  4)  ;  for  "I  esteem  all  thy 
precepts  concerning  all  things  to  be  right  "  (Psa.  119: 

128). 

"  The  opening  of  thy  words  [to  the  eye]  giveth 
light  [to  the  conscience]  ;  it  giveth  understanding  unto 
the  simple  "  (Psa.  1 19  :  130).  From  the  precepts  and 
principles  laid  down  in  the  Bible,  you  can  learn  (under 
the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  who  inspired  that 
Book,  and  who  is  ready  to  make  its  teachings  plain) 
your  personal  duty  on  any  point  of  morals  in  question. 
God's  "  commandment  is  exceeding  broad "  (Psa. 
119:  96),  his  "  testimonies  are  wonderful "  (Psa.  119: 
129).  "  Thou  shalt  meditate  therein  day  and  night, 
that  thou  mayest  observe  to  do  according  to  all  that 


2  34  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

is  written  therein  :  for  then  thou  shalt  make  thy  way 
prosperous,  and  then  thou  shalt  have  good  success  " 
(Josh.  I  :  8).  Your  conscience,  fairly  rated  by  that 
standard,  will  be  a  conscience  that  can  be  depended  on. 

But,  mark  you  !  your  conscience  must  be  conformed 
to  \Nh.2X  you  find  to  be  the  Bible  standard, — not  to 
the  standard  which  some  one  else  says  is  set  up  in  the 
Bible.  "  Let  each  man  be  fully  assured  in  his  own 
mind"  (Rom.  14  :  5).  **  To  his  own  lord  hestandeth 
or  falleth "  (Rom.  14  :  4).  For  example  :  as  to  all 
that  I  have  said,  incidentally,  in  this  discourse,  con- 
cerning various  personal  and  social  habits  and  cus- 
toms, I  would  not  have  your  opinions  shaped  merely 
by  mine  ;  nor  would  I  have  you  accept  on  my  affirma- 
tion any  spiritual  teaching  as  a  teaching  of  God's 
word. 

Do  not,  I  beg  of  you,  think  that  is  wrong  to  drink 
wine,  or  to  play  cards,  or  to  dance,  or  to  use  tobacco, 
or  to  go  to  the  theater,  or  to  lie,  or  to  be  mean,  merely 
because  I  seem  to  think  so.  Do  not,  on  the  other 
hand,  think  that  any  one  of  these  things  is  right  and 
proper  merely  because  some  persons  else — even  some 
thousands  of  Christians — evidently  think  so ;  nor  yet 
because  you  have  yourself  long  indulged  in  that  thing 
"without  any  qualms  of  conscience."  "To  the  law 
and  to  the  testimony"  (Isa.  8  :  20)  as  to  all  these 
things,  and  as  to  the  principles  underlying  them.  If 
you  are  still  to  approve  them,  let  it  be  because  you 
find  them  approved  by  the  word  of  God  ;  not  because 
your  mind  inclines  to  them,  your  neighbors  practice 


Conscience  not  a  Safe  Guide  .235 

them,  or  some  minister  insists  that  they  are  all  right. 
And  so  let  it  be  concerning  every  other  point  in  this 
discourse,  or  in  any  other  address  which  I  may  make 
to  you  here  or  elsewhere. 

Moreover,  during  all  the  time  you  are  here  in  this 
Students'  Conference  for  Bible-study  bear  in  mind 
that  error  as  well  as  truth  may  be — -doubtless  will  be 
— proffered  to  you  by  those  who  are  set  to  be  your 
leaders  in  this  study,  and  that  you  have  it  laid  upon 
you  to  decide  for  yourselves  just  what  in  the  words 
of  these  teachers  is  God's  truth,  and  just  what  in  them 
is  man's  error.  Remember  that  you  are  here  to  learn 
how  to  study  the  Bible  so  as  to  find  its  true  teachings, 
not  to  be  told  by  others  what  you  are  to  find  in  the 
Bible  as  its  true  teachings.  You  have  a  right,  for  ex- 
ample, to  feel  that  everything  which  our  dear  friend 
Mr.  Moody  says  to  you  is  worth  hearing  and  is  worth 
considering,  but  you  have  no  right  to  feel  that  any- 
thing which  Mr.  Moody  declares  as  God's  truth  is  to 
be  accepted  as  God's  truth  merely  because  Mr.  Moody 
deems  it  so.  Nor  would  he  have  you  rest  for  a 
moment  on  his  words  as  always  sure  to  accord  with 
God's  words,  although  he  always  means  to  have 
them  thus. 

As  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Moody,  so  in  the  case  of  every 
Bible  teacher  ;  what  he  says  to  you  may  seem  like 
Bible  truth,  and  yet  not  be  Bible  truth  ;  it  may  be  ap- 
proved by  your  conscience  as  Bible  truth,  and  yet  not 
be  Bible  truth.  And  this  thought  it  is  that  ought  to 
deepen  your  sense  of  personal   responsibility  as  you 


236  Shoes  a7id  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

bear  a  part  in  this  Students'  Conference  for  Bible- 
study.  A  question  of  questions  for  each  of  you  in- 
dividually is,  Is  the  light  that  is  in  me  light,  or  is  it 
darkness  ?  May  the  Holy  Spirit  guide  you  every  one 
into  all  truth ! 


DUTY  OF   MAKING  THE   PAST  A  SUCCESS 


X 

DUTY   OF   MAKING  THE  PAST  A  SUCCESS 

It  was  while  I  was  doing  my  work  as  a  chaplain  in 
the  Lord's  army  among  young  men  in  the  schools 
and  colleges  of  our  country,  that  I  was  led  to  con- 
sider the  truth  as  taught  in  the  Bible  and  in  human 
experience  that  we  have  practical  duties  toward  those 
who  have  gone  on  before  us,  as  well  as  toward  those 
who  are  coming  after  us.  This  truth,  with  its  cor- 
relative duties,  grew  on  me  in  its  importance.  I  came 
to  press  it  again  and  again  on  the  young,  with  the  ever 
added  responsibilities  which  they  should  feel. 

This  sermon  also  I  preached  at  the  opening  of  an 
annual  session  of  the  World's  Student  Conference  at 
Northfield.  An  incident  in  connection  with  that 
preaching  touched  me  deeply.  My  son,  a  then  recent 
graduate  of  Yale,  was  at  that  Conference.  He  came 
to  me  and  said,  "  Father,  that  truth  lays  a  new  burden 
on  me.  I  have  been  thinking  of  the  importance  of- 
my  doing  well,  on  my  own  account,  before  God.  But 
I  had  never  thought  before  that  if  I  fail  you  will  suffer 
by  it,  not  merely  in  your  feelings,  but  in  your  reputa- 
tion. That  gives  me  an  added  incentive  and  stimulus 
to  right-doing." 

239 


240  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


I  was  more  than  glad,  I  was  profoundly  grateful, 
that  I  had  preached  that  sermon.  In  the  hope  that 
its  truth  may  stimulate  some  other  son  to  a  similar 
view  of  his  duty,  I  pubHsh  it  herewith. 


OUR  RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  THE  PAST 

God  having  provided  some  better  thing  concerjung 
us,  that  apart  from  us  they  shoidd  not  be  made  peifeci 
(Heb.  1 1  :  40). 

To  God's  children,  the  present  is  better  than  the 
past.  Aye ;  and  the  past  waits  on  the  present  for  its 
completion  by  God's  children.  That  is  the  truth  that 
is  suggested  by  this  text,  with  its  correspondent  sug- 
gestion of  our  duty  of  making  the  incomplete  past  a 
success  in  the  present. 

This  eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews,  of  which  our 
text  is  the  closing  verse,  is  a  sublime  exhibit  of  the 
surpassing  power  of  a  godly  faith,  illustrated  out  of 
the  history  of  the  ages.  Its  inspiring  imagery  is  bor- 
rowed from  the  Isthmian  games  of  ancient  Greece ; 
and  the  whole  force  of  the  chapter  can  be  realized 
only  through  an  understanding  of  the  locality  and  the 
main  features  of  those  games. 

Between  cultured  Athens  and  commercial  Corinth 
stretched  the  "  Isthmus,"  or  "  Bridge  of  the  Sea,"  a 
neck  of  land  connecting  Peloponnesus,  or  the  modern 
Morea,  with  the  continent  of  Europe.  There,  at  the 
narrowest  part  of  the  Isthmus,  between  "  the  winding 
shores  of  the  *  double  sea,'  " — the  gulf  of  Lepanto, 

241 


242  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

or  Corinth,  on  the  west,  and  the  Saronic  gulf  and 
Grecian  Archipelago  on  the  east, — was  the  place  of 
these  biennial  games.  Eight  miles  to  the  southward 
lay  the  splendid  and  wicked  city  of  Corinth,  with  its 
magnificent  temple  to  Aphrodite,  or  Venus,  crowning 
the  lofty  height  of  the  Acrocorinthus,  at  the  foot  of 
which  the  new  city  of  money-making  and  lust  was 
built.  Beyond  this  height  rolled  the  mountains  of 
Peloponnesus.  Thirty-five  miles  or  more,  in  an  air- 
line to  the  northward, — out  of  sight  from  the  Isthmus, 
but  distinctly  seen  from  the  Acrocorinthus, — was 
Athens,  in  its  intellectual  pride  and  its  architectural 
glory,  its  Acropolis  surmounted  by  the  Parthenon  and 
clustering  temples,  while  towering  above  all  was  the 
far-famed  bronze  statue,  by  Phidias,  of  Athense,  or 
Pallas,  or,  more  familiarly,  Minerva  Promachus;  its 
burnished  surface,  as  it  stood  in  gigantic  proportions 
with  its  upraised  spear  and  shield,  flashing  back  the 
sunlight,  and  visible  from  fifty  miles  away,  on  land  or 
sea,  as  the  protecting  divinity  of  Athens  and  Attica. 
Away  beyond  loomed  up  the  snow-clad  peaks  of  Par- 
nassus and  Helicon. 

Here  on  the  Isthmus,  with  these  classic  surround- 
ino-s  was  a  stadium,  or  race-course,  of  the  usual  six 
hundred  feet  measurement.  Here  also  was  a  theater 
for  the  "  legitimate  drama  "  of  that  day.  The  amphi- 
theater, for  gladiatorial  contests,  was  nearer  the  city. 
Here  again  was  the  great  temple  of  Poseidon,  or  Nep- 
tune, in  honor  of  whom  the  Isthmian  games  were 
celebrated,  and  at  whose    feet   the  victors  bowed  to 


Duty  of  Making  the  Past  a  Success      243 


receive  their  honors.  From  the  stadium  to  the  temple 
was  an  imposing  avenue,  hned  on  one  side  by  the 
statues  of  former  victors  in  the  games,  and  on  the 
other  by  a  row  of  pine-trees,  from  whose  boughs  were 
woven  the  wreaths  to  crown  the  conquerors.  The 
contests  of  racing,  wrestUng,  and  boxing,  and  with 
swords  and  spears  by  foot-men  and  from  chariots, 
were  here  witnessed  each  alternate  spring,  by  vast 
multitudes  from  the  neighboring  cities  and  from  all 
along  the  Mediterranean  coast  beyond. 

Notwithstanding  the  heathen  character  of  these 
Isthmian  games,  there  was  a  nobler  side  to  them,  in 
contrast  with  the  effeminacy  and  self-indulgence  which 
marked  the  life  of  the  Corinthians  generally.  The 
contestants  must  all  be  of  pure  Hellenic  stock,  free 
from  the  taint  of  crime,  above  suspicion  of  bribery. 
They  must  deny  themselves  during  at  least  ten  months 
of  preHminary  training,  being  careful  in  diet  and  tem- 
perate in  all  things.  When  they  came  to  the  contest, 
their  whole  being  must  be  in  the  struggle,  or  all  their 
training-  would  be  found  fruitless.  To  win  the  fading 
crown  of  pine  they  must  count  not  their  lives  dear  in  its 
comparison.  And  if  they  won  it,  they  were  applauded 
and  admired  by  the  surrounding  multitude.  Their 
names  and  the  names  of  their  fathers — whom  their  vic- 
tory now  honored — were  sounded  aloud  by  the  herald. 
Their  statues  were  soon  to  be  added  to  the  long  row 
between  the  race-course  and  the  temple.  They  were 
now  an  example  to  those  who  should  come  after  them. 

Do  you  not  now  see  the  imagery  of  the  Isthmian 


244  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


games  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews?  The 
writer  of  this  book,  be  he  Paul  or  ApoUos,  clearly 
is  familiar  with  these  games  and  their  surroundings. 
He  places  himself  and  his  readers  at  the  entrance  of 
a  spiritual  stadium.  Looking  up  along  the  avenue  of 
the  ages  which  leads  to  the  temple  where  sits  the  pre- 
siding Divinity  of  the  contest,  he  points  to  the  statues 
of  former  victors  in  this  course,  which  line  the  way 
thitherward,  and  recalls  the  memory  of  their  spirit  and 
achievements.     Look  at  them  !  he  says. 

There  is  Abel,  of  the  oldest  family  of  earth,  first 
among  conquerors  through  faith  ;  his  voice  rings  in- 
spiringly  in  our  ears  to-day.  Enoch ;  what  a  w^alk 
was  his,  and  what  a  reward !  Noah  ;  why,  he  stood 
out  against  the  world,  and  the  whole  earth  was  his 
inheritance  and  his  triumph.  Abraham  and  Sarah ; 
did  they  lose  anything  through  their  self-denial  and 
their  trust  ?  And  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  Joseph  ;  do 
you  suppose  they  are  sorry  that  they  passed  over  this 
course  victoriously?  Moses,  leader  and  lawgiver, 
with  richer  treasures  than  those  of  Egypt  for  his  pos- 
session! Joshua,  heroic  and  successful  soldier! 
Rahab,  rescued  from  death  and  yet  worse,  because  of 
her  simple-hearted  faith ! 

*'And  what  shall  I  more  say?"  as  the  long  line 
glows  and  grows  in  the  extending  vista;  "for  the 
time  will  fail  me  if  I  tell  of  Gideon,  Barak,  Samson, 
Jephthah;  of  David  and  Samuel  and  the  prophets: 
who  through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  right- 
eousness, obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of 


Duty  of  Making  the  Past  a  Success      245 

lions,  quenched  the  power  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge 
of  the  sword,  from  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed 
mighty  in  war,  turned  to  flight  armies  of  aliens. 
Women  received  their  dead  by  a  resurrection:  and 
others  were  tortured,  not  accepting  their  deliverance; 
that  they  might  obtain  a  better  resurrection;  and 
others  had  trial  of  mockings  and  scourgings,  yea,  more- 
over of  bonds  and  imprisonment :  they  were  stoned, 
they  were  sawn  asunder,  they  were  tempted,  they  were 
slain  with  the  sword :  they  went  about  in  sheepskins, 
in  goatskins ;  being  destitute,  afflicted,  evil  entreated 
(of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy),  wandering  in 
deserts  and  mountains  and  caves,  and  the  holes  of  the 
earth."  Could  ever  anything  be  grander  than  this 
array  ?  Is  not  there  a  line  of  heroes  to  glory  in,  and 
to  admire? 

But  the  writer  to  the  Hebrews  has  a  practical  end  in 
view  in  all  his  reminiscences.  He  has  no  thought  of 
pointing  out  the  achievements  of  the  past  only  that 
they  may  be  wondered  over.  Remember,  he  says, 
that  these  men  and  women  of  long  ago  began  a  good 
work  which  they  left  for  us  to  carry  on.  They  looked 
forward  with  keen  desire  to  the  coming  of  our  present 
opportunity,  but  they  died  without  attaining  it, — "  God 
having  provided  [or,  foreseen]  some  better  thing  con- 
cerning us,  that  apart  from  us  they  should  not  be 
made  perfect  [or,  complete]." 

Then,  as  if  he  saw  the  spirits  of  these  heroes  of 
faith  leaning  over  the  battlements  of  heaven,  and  cheer- 
ing the  present  contestants  to  the  completion  of  the 


246  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


course  which  they  had  begun,  he  raised  his  voice  in 
the  clarion  call:  "Therefore  let  us  also,  seeing  we  are 
compassed  about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses, 
lay  aside  every  weight  [or,  all  cumbrance],  and  the 
sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us  [or,  which  so  entan- 
gles our  feet],  and  let  us  run  with  patience  [or,  with 
constancy]  the  race  that  is  set  before  us  [in  this  sta- 
dium], looking  [up  the  statue-lined  way]  unto  Jesus 
the  author  and  perfecter  of  our  faith  [our  starter  and 
sustainer  in  this  course],  who  [when  he  ran  this  race] 
for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him  endured  the  cross, 
despising  shame,  and  [in  the  heavenly  temple  yonder] 
hath  sat  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of 
God." 

There  is  the  lesson  of  this  portion  of  Hebrews. 
There  is  its  call  to  you  and  to  mc  this  evening.  The 
past  is  ever  dependent  on  the  present  for  its  highest 
value  and  its  completest  efficiency.  Unless  you  and 
I  do  our  duty,  all  that  went  before,  in  the  line  of  our 
life  and  labors,  is  a  practical  failure. 

What  profits  it  that  David  has  prepared  with  all  his 
might  for  the  house  of  his  God,  unless  Solomon  is 
faithful  in  carrying  forward  the  temple  building?  Sup- 
pose a  church  was  founded  in  Laodicea;  if  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  first  converts  there  prove  but  lukewarm 
and  self-satisfied,  the  best  labors  ol  the  beginners 
shall  be  fruitless  to  posterity  when  the  church  itself 
has  ceased  to  exist.  How  came  there  so  different  re- 
sults from  the  early  coming  to  New  England  of  the 
Norseland  navigators,  and  the  later  following  of  the 


Duty  of  Making  the  Past  a  Success      247 

English  Puritans,  except  that  the  children  of  the 
Northmen  took  no  advantage  of  the  discoveries  of 
their  fathers,  while  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans 
have  maintained  and  extended  the  Puritan  faith  and 
the  Puritan  works  ? 

It  would  be  of  comparatively  small  account  in  his- 
tory that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  signed, 
and  that  the  old  State  House  bell  rang  out  the  joyous 
announcement  of  that  fact  on  July  4,  1776,  if  July  4, 
1892,^  were  not  to  show  a  nation  in  any  sense  worthy 
of  that  beginning,  worthy  of  the  living  and  the  dying 
of  its  founders  and  its  defenders.  Any  cause  of  the 
fathers  is  a  "lost  cause  "  when  the  children  are  untrue 
to  it.  It  is  ever  God's  plan  that  the  work  of  those 
who  went  before  should  not  be  made  complete  with- 
out the  work  of  those  who  follow  after. 

It  is  right  that  the  grandeur  of  the  historic  past 
should  be  recognized  in  the  present,  but  only  in  order 
that  its  inspirations  may  tell  on  the  work  of  those 
who  are  now  making  their  place  in  history.  Said  Na- 
poleon, at  the  head  of  his  army  in  Egypt,  "  Soldiers, 
from  those  pyramids  forty  centuries  look  down  on 
you."  But  Napoleon  had  not  brought  his  soldiers 
there  to  study  Egyptian  monuments  or  memories  or 
mummies.  He  had  hard  fighting  for  them  to  do ; 
and  he  called  on  them  to  do  it  bravely  and  well,  as  in 
sight  of  the  "cloud  of  witnesses"  of  the  forty  fore- 
going centuries,  the  work  of  which  he  had  come  pro- 
fessedly to  improve  on  and  complete. 

1  This  sermon  was  preached  on  the  eve  of  the  Fourth  of  July. 


248  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

There  is  something  uplifting  and  expanding  in  the 
sense  of  a  "  historic  consciousness,"  in  the  thought 
that  we  belong  to  a  race,  or  a  nation,  or  a  city,  or  a 
church,  or  a  college,  or  a  family,  with  a  noble  history. 
But  if  this  sense  of  a  historic  consciousness  satisfies 
us,  if  it  lessens  our  determined  purpose  to  live  up  to, 
and  to  carry  forward,  and  in  our  sphere  to  improve 
on,  the  history  already  made  in  this  line,  it  would 
have  been  better  for  us  never  to  have  had  it. 

It  is  all  very  well  for  a  young  man  to  say  that  he 
is  in  an  academy  or  a  college  where  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, or  Archibald  Alexander,  or  Horace  Binney,  or 
Noah  Webster,  received  his  early  education.  But  the 
practical  question  is:  Is  that  institution  of  learning  to 
gain,  or  to  lose,  in  its  reputation,  through  having  that 
young  man  as  a  graduate,  in  the  line  of  this  succes- 
sion ?  Unless,  indeed,  he  does  his  part  as  well  as  the 
more  famous  of  the  old  scholars  there  did  theirs,  he 
will  not  only  gain  nothing  through  their  repute,  but 
he  is  actually  aiding  to  dim  the  luster  which  their 
names  gave  to  his  Alma  Mater. 

And  as  to  your  family,  my  young  friend,  if  you  are 
doing  more  nobly  than  your  grandfather  did,  you  may 
rejoice  that  he  lived  an  honored  life  ;  but  it  were  better 
for  you  to  have  been  a  Bushman  of  South  Africa,  and 
improved  your  privileges,  than  to  belong  to  one  of 
the  best  old  families  of  Massachusetts  or  Virginia, 
and  not  improve  on  its  record.  The  question  is  not 
whether  you  are  proud  of  your  grandfather,  but 
whether  your  grandfather  would  be  proud  of  you. 


Duty  of  Making  the  Past  a  Success      249 

It  is  a  good  thing  to  be  in  a  family  line  which  had 
a  fine  start  long  ago,  and  has  been  and  still  is  im- 
proving, generation  by  generation.  It  is  a  sad  thing 
to  be  in  a  family  line  where  the  best  men  and  women 
were  in  its  former  generations. 

Some  years  ago,  as  I  met  one  of  our  distinguished 
Union  generals,  I  asked  that  I  might  bring  my  son 
to  take  his  hand  and  have  his  greeting,  so  that  he 
could  remember  it  in  the  years  to  come.  As,  with 
his  consent,  I  introduced  my  boy,  he  said  to  him: 
"  Charley,  I'm  glad  to  see  you.  I  hope  that  you  will 
grow  up  to  be  a  man,  and  that  you  will  make  a  good 
man, — a  great  deal  better  man  than  your  father." 
"  That's  right,  general,"  I  said ;  "  if  he  isn't  a  better 
man  than  his  father,  both  of  us  will  be  failures." 
There  is  no  other  way  to  look  at  it !  Your  and  my 
lives  will,  in  the  main,  prove  a  failure  unless  our  chil- 
dren do  better  than  we  do.  Our  parents  were  meas- 
ureably  a  failure  unless  we  carry  forward  their  lives 
and  their  life-work  toward  perfection. 

Some  years  ago,  in  company  with  a  distinguished 
friend  of  mine,  I  was  presented  to  Josiah  Quincy,  then 
one  of  "  the  solid  men  of  Boston,"  an  ex-mayor  of 
the  city,  and  an  ex-president  of  the  state  Senate.  He 
was  a  son  of  President  Quincy  of  Harvard  University, 
a  grandson  of  the  Revolutionary  orator,  a  brother  of 
Edmund  Quincy  the  writer,  and  the  father  of  the 
poet  Josiah  Phillips  Quincy  and  of  General  Samuel 
Miller  Quincy.  As  my  friend  gave  expression  to  our 
satisfaction  in  meeting  one  whose  honored  name  and 


250  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


whose  honored  family  name  were  so  familiar  to  us, 
Mr.  Quincy  said,  with  gracefulness  and  modesty: 
"  Personally,  I  have  done  little  to  command  public 
attention ;  but  I  am  linked  with  those  who  have.  I 
am  perhaps  best  known  as  the  son  of  my  father,  and 
as  the  father  of  my  sons."  Such  a  family  as  that  is 
in  the  line  of  true  progress,  its  members  of  each  gen- 
eration making  available  the  better  things  than  those 
of  former  days,  which  God  has  provided  for  them, 
and  without  the  wise  use  of  which  the  work  of  their 
fathers  would  not  be  made  perfect. 

The  Chinese  exalt  this  idea  of  the  value  to  their 
ancestors  of  the  well-doing  of  the  children,  so  that 
it  becomes  a  main  feature  of  their  religious  system. 
They  hold  that  the  happiness  of  all  those  of  former 
generations  is  dependent  on  the  fidelity  to  their  mem- 
ory, and  the  attention  to  their  wants,  of  those  who 
come  after  them.  Even  the  emperor,  *'  Son  of  Heaven," 
as  he  is  styled,  declares  in  his  hour  of  most  solemn 
worship,  ''  My  thought  is  to  carry  out  the  aims  of 
those  who  preceded  me,  thus  ensuring  the  gift  of 
long  prosperity  for  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  years."  Every  success  of  a  Chinese  youth  is  sup- 
posed to  increase  the  dignity  of  all  his  ancestors ;  and 
if  his  father  be  still  living  when  he  carries  off  any 
great  competitive  honors,  the  chief  award  is  made  to 
the  father,  rather  than  to  the  son. 

Is  there  not  a  certain  reasonableness  in  this  way  of 
looking  at  the  matter?  When  a  young  man  rises  up 
above  the  common  level  of  his  fellows,  he  lifts  on  his 


Duty  of  Makmg  the  Past  a  Success      25 1 


shoulders,  as  it  were,  the  former  generations  of  his 
family  into  a  new  prominence  before  the  world.  How 
old  Captain  Ezekiel  Webster  grew  in  public  esteem 
when  his  son  Daniel  was  fairly  in  the  practice  of  law! 
What  could  have  honored  Mary  the  mother  of  Wash- 
ington in  comparison  with  the  career  of  the  son  of 
her  love  ? 

Think  of  this,  young  man  just  setting  out  in  life! 
Consider  your  part  in  making  the  work  of  your 
parents,  and  of  those  who  were  'before  them,  a  suc- 
cess! Is  not  here  an  added  stimulus  to  exertion? 
Perhaps  your  mother  toiled  to  secure  you  an  educa- 
tion. Her  face  wrinkled,  and  her  hair  whitened,  and 
her  strength  lessened,  in  her  effort  to  make  provision 
for  you.  And  now  comes  the  question.  Was  she 
using  her  time  and  strength  to  good  advantage? 
That  question  it  is  for  you  rather  than  for  her  to 
answer ;  God  having  provided  some  better  thing  con- 
cerning you,  that  apart  from  you  her  work  should  not 
be  made  complete. 

Every  son  of  a  dead  mother,  or  of  a  dead  father, 
here  this  evening,  has  a  responsibility,  not  alone  for 
his  own  success,  but  for  the  success  of  that  dead 
parent,  in  his  coming  life-struggle.  By  his  love  for 
the  dead  let  him  be  faithful  in  his  day. 

"  He  mourns  the  dead  who  lives  as  they  desired." 

Why,  the  completest  life  which  the  world  ever 
knew  left  somewhat  of  its  filling  out  to  be  done  by 
those  who  should  come  after!     Paul,  speaking  of  his 


252  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


sufferings  for  Christ's  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  Christ's 
church,  says  :  "  I  ...  fill  up  on  my  part  that  which  is 
lacking  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  my  flesh  for  his 
body's  sake,  which  is  the  church  "  (Col.  I  :  24).  Or 
as  St.  Augustine  puts  it,  in  applying  this  truth  to  every 
disciple  of  Jesus:  "Whosoever  therefore  thou  art,  if 
thou  art  a  member  of  Christ,  whatsoever  thou  sufferest, 
was  lacking  to  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  Therefore 
that  suffering  of  thine  is  added  because  it  was  lacking; 
thou  art  filling  the  measure,  not  making  it  flow  over. 
Thou  sufferest  so  much  in  thyself  as  was  to  be  poured 
in  the  universal  passion  of  Christ,  who  suffered  in  our 
Head,  and  who  suffers  in  his  members, — that  is,  in  us. 
The  whole  measure  of  suffering  will  not  be  filled  up 
till  the  world  comes  to  an  end." 

"  Strange  words  !  and  even  stranger  thought! 
But  yet  to  inspiration  due ; — 
We  '  fill  up  that  which  is  behind' 
Of  all  the  suffering  Jesus  knew. 

"We  are  thy  body,  Lord,  and  what 
As  man  thou  didst  not  undergo, 
Thy  suffering  members  still  supply, 
To  '  fill  up '  what  thou  didst  forgo. 

'•  And  so,  O  mystery  of  love ! 

'Tis  ours  to  prove,  by  kindred  mind, 
This  deepest  fellowship  with  thee, 
'  And  fill  up  that  which  is  behind.'  "  ^ 

Your  sorrow,  your   disappointment,  your  bereave- 
ment, your  struggle  with  temptation,  Jesus  could  not 

1  Mary  K.  A.  Stone. 


Duty  of  Making  the  Past  a  Success      253 


himself  meet  and  bear  fur  you  while   he  was  in  the 
flesh;  therefore  he  left  them  for  you  to  bear  for   him. 
And  as  with  his  sufferings,  so  with  his  labors.     Jesus 
could  not  teach  your  Sunday-school  class,  as  he  sat 
by  the  shores  of  Gennesaret.     He  could  not  visit  that 
poor  mother  whom  you  know  of  only  a  short  distance 
from  your  home,  as  he  walked  up  and  down  the  land 
of  Palestine  with  weary  feet.     He  could  not  watch  by 
the  sick-bed  of  your   dying  neighbor,  while  out  on 
the  mountain  he  continued  all  night  in  prayer  to  God. 
These  labors  of  love  were  not  for  him  to  complete, 
God  having  provided  some  better  thing   concerning 
you,  that  apart  from  you   his   labors   should  not  be 
wholly  performed. 

And  you  who  have  not  yet  accepted  Christ's  offer 
of  salvation,— if  such  a  one  should  be  here  this  even- 
ing,—j^-^st  think  of  all  the  past  which  waits   on  your 
decision  for  its  completion!     The  whole  plan  of  re- 
demption, in  its  marvelous  story  from  the  first  promise 
in  Eden  to  the  ascending  into  heaven  of  our  crucified 
and  risen  Lord  near  Bethany;  and  well-nigh  nineteen 
centuries  of   Christian  history  and    Christian   effort; 
and  all  your   training  thus   far;  every  prayer  which 
has   been   offered  for  you;  every  sermon  which  you 
have  heard  ;  every  word  of  warning  or  invitation  which 
has   been   spoken   to  you;    every  lesson  which    you 
have  read  out  of  the  book  of  God,— all,  all  is  yet  im- 
perfect and  incomplete,  so  far  as  you  and  your  salva- 
tion are  concerned ;  all,  all  will,  so  far,  be  a  failure, 
unless  your  submissive,  trustful  voice  shall  say,  "  Lord, 


254  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

I  believe;  help  thou  mine  unbelief."  What  interests 
out  of  all  the  past,  as  well  as  what  consequences  for 
all  the  future,  are  involved  in  your  decision  concern- 
ing your  personal  salvation !  And  Jesus  himself 
waits  lovingly  for  your  answer  to  his  invitation, 
*'  Come  unto  me,"  that  in  your  coming  he  may  so  far 
see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  be  satisfied. 

How  this  great  thought — of  our  part  in  making  all 
the  past  a  success — does  uplift  and  ennoble  the  fact  of 
life  and  of  living!  We  stand  as  it  were  between  the 
centuries,  the  hope  of  former  ages  as  of  future.  How 
much  to  the  universe  may  depend  on  our  fidelity  and 
courage  in  the  doing  of  present  duty,  here  and  now ! 

Beginning  this  new  session  of  these  Students'  Con- 
ferences here  at  Northfield,  we  have  a  measure  of  re- 
sponsibility for  all  the  conferences  of  this  sort  that 
have  preceded  this.  It  is  for  us  to  show  in  our  spirit 
and  ways  and  words  whether  those  earlier  conferences 
were  wisely  planned  and  managed,  and  whether  the 
work  undertaken  by  them  was  work  that  was  worth 
planning  and  worth  doing:  "God  having  provided 
some  better  thing  concerning  us,  that  apart  from  us 
they  should  not  be  made  perfect." 

"  Noble  things  the  great  Past  promised, 
Holy  dreams,  both  strange  and  new, 
But  the  Present  shall  fulfil  them. 
What  he  promised,  she  shall  do." 

And  "thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


TRUSTING  BETTER  THAN  WORRYING 


XI 

TRUSTING  BETTER  THAN  WORRYING 

A  marked  difference  between  good  and  disciplined 
soldiers  and  new  recruits  or  soldiers  poorly  trained, 
is  in  the  readiness  with  which,  on  the  one  hand,  they 
obey  orders  or  wait  where  they  are  stationed  until 
they  receive  orders  to  move  elsewhere ;  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  chafe  in  inaction  and  incline  to  complain 
because  their  commander  does  not  do  differently. 
This  was  a  practical  lesson  impressed  on  me  in  my 
army-life. 

Later  I  found  that  the  same  difficulty  is  as  common 
in  civil  life  as  in  military.  And  there  is  more  sym- 
pathy with  one  who  worries  than  with  one  who  quietly 
trusts.  In  my  observation  and  my  reading  I  have  found 
that  the  majority  see  more  good  in  bustling,  fault- 
findinG^,  inefficient  Martha  of  Bethanv,  than  in  calm, 
restful,  competent,  and  true  Mary,  who  knew  her  place 
and  filled  it,  who  understood  her  duty  and  did  it. 

To  my  surprise  I  found  many  eloquent  preachers 
and  many  learned  commentators  ready  to  disagree 
with  Jesus  where  he  commends  trustful  Mary  and 
rebukes  bustling  Martha.  This  newly  convinced  me 
that,  in  camp  and  field,  in  home-life  and  in   ordinary 

257 


258  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

business,  the  qualities  that  have  approval  with  great 
earthly  commanders,  and  with  the  Captain  of  our 
Salvation,  are  not  popular  qualities.  In  view  of  this 
I  wrote  and  preached  this  sermon,  which  I  always 
found  to  be  unacceptable  to  my  hearers,  but  which  I 
desire  to  have  preserved  as  expressing  my  view  of 
the  positive  teachings  of  Jesus,  and  of  the  uniform 
duty  of  his  disciples. 


MARY  A  BETTER  HOUSEKEEPER 
THAN  MARTHA 

Now  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  went,  that  he  entered 
into  a  certain  village :  and  a  certain  woman  named 
Martha  received  him  into  her  house.  And  she  had  a 
sister  called  Mary,  zvhich  also  sat  at  Jesus'  feet,  and 
heard  his  word. 

But  Martha  was  cumbered  about  much  serving,  and 
came  to  him,  and  said,  Lord,  dost  thou  not  care  that  my 
sister  hath  left  me  to  serve  alone  ?  bid  her  tlierefore 
that  she  help  me. 

And  Jesus  answered  arid  said  unto  her,  Martha, 
Martha,  thou  art  carefid  and  troubled  abojit  many 
things:  but  one  thing  is  needfid ;  and  Mary  hath 
chosen  that  good  part,  which  shall  not  be  taken  away 
from  her  (Luke  lo  :  38-42). 

This  is  a  very  familiar  passage  of  Scripture,  but  a 
much  abused  one.  Few  Bible  incidents  are  more 
commonly  misconceived  in  their  explicit  teachings 
than  is  this  interview  of  our  Lord  with  the  sisters  at 
Bethany. 

Jesus,  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem  from  the  east  of 
Jordan,  had  reached  the  little  village  of  Bethany,  on 
the  southeastern  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  near 

259 


2  6o  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

its  base,  not  quite  two  miles  from  the  Holy  City. 
Bethany  was  the  home  of  Lazarus  and  Martha  and 
Mary,  all  of  whom  Jesus  loved  tenderly  (John 
II  :  5).  Their  home  was  one  of  his  homes, — a  home 
of  sacred  friendship  to  him ;  a  home  where  he  was 
always  welcome,  always  sure  to  give  and  to  receive 
the  affectionate  sympathy  of  a  friend.  It  is  in  con- 
nection with  that  home  in  Bethany  that  we  know 
more  of  the  tenderer  side  of  the  human  nature  of 
Jesus — more  of  the  social  qualities  of  the  Son  of 
man — than  from  any  other  portion  of  his  life-story. 

On  this  occasion  of  his  coming,  both  sisters  wanted 
to  do  Jesus  honor.  Mary  recognized  him  as  Master 
and  Teacher,  and  promptly  took  her  place  at  his  feet 
— the  Oriental  position  of  a  pupil — to  hear  and  to 
heed  his  word.  Her  first  thought  was  of  learning  his 
wishes.  Her  first  desire  was  to  do  as  he  might  direct. 
But  Martha  had  plans  of  her  own.  She  was  sure  as 
to  what  ought  to  be  done  in  that  house  that  day. 
Without  stopping  to  learn  what  Jesus  wanted,  she 
began  to  work  and  to  worry  in  the  line  of  hospitable 
provision  for  her  friend  and  guest.  To  Martha  the 
restful  inaction  of  Mary  at  such  an  hour  seemed 
strangely  unseasonable.  In  the  natural  freedom  of 
a  real  friendship,  but  in  a  pettishness  that  was  none 
the  more  excusable  for  being  natural,  Martha  came  to 
Jesus  to  tell  him  of  her  personal  trouble  and  to  ask 
his  help  out  of  it.  "  Lord,  dost  thou  not  care  that  my 
sister  hath  left  me  to  serve  alone  ?  bid  her  therefore 
that  she  help  me." 


Trusting  Better  tJiaji  Worrying        261 

Now,  if  Martha's  view  of  this  case  was  a  correct 
one,  Jesus  knew  it.  If  Mary  was  at  fault,  he  was 
aware  of  that.  If  both  were  right, — each  after  her 
own  sort, — with  different  way  of  doing  God  service, 
and  of  honoring  the  Son  of  God,  Jesus  did  not  fail  to 
understand  it  accordingly.  If,  however,  Jesus  took 
sides  with  either  sister  in  this  variance  of  opinion,  he 
had  a  good  reason  for  so  doing.  Jesus  never  made  a 
mistake.  What  course  did  he  pursue?  "And  Jesus 
answered  and  said  unto  her  "  (speaking  in  the  kind 
familiarity  of  a  trusted  friend),  "  Martha,  Martha,  thou 
art  careful  and  troubled  [full  of  worrying  anxiety] 
about  many  things."  TJiat  wasn't  right.  Jesus 
taught  his  disciples  to  have  no  anxiety,  or  worrying 
care,  concerning  what  they  were  to  eat,  or  drink,  or 
wear;  and  to  let  not  their  hearts  be  troubled.  "But 
one  thing  [one  thing  only]  is  needful,"  he  added  ;  "and 
Mary  hath  chosen  that  good  part,  which  shall  not  be 
taken  away  from  her."  Mary  here  is  in  the  right 
place,  and  at  her  proper  work  just  now;  and  she 
must  not  be  interfered  with. 

It  is  just  at  this  point  that  there  is  such  a  wide- 
spread reluctance  to  admit  the  plain  truth  of  this  Gos- 
pel passage.  Martha  had  a  house  to  look  after,  it  is 
said;  and  no  house  will  run  itself  There  is  work  to 
be  done  in  it  every  hour.  With  company  to  entertain, 
it  will  never  do  to  sit  down  with  folded  hands,  in  the 
morning,  leaving  the  arrangements  for  the  day  all  un- 
attended to.  Was  not  Martha  right  in  feeling  a  bur- 
den which  Mary  ought  to  share  ?     Busy  housewives 


262   Shoes  and  Rations  foi^"  a  Long  March 

and  sorely  tried  mothers  are  inclined  to  sympathize 
with  Martha  in  her  anxieties  and  in  her  complaint, 
and  to  wonder  how  anybody  can  count  Mary  a  model 
woman  for  this  matter-of-fact  world  of  ours.  Hus- 
bands and  fathers  also  are  likely  to  feel  that  Martha 
was  on  the  right  track  for  a  housekeeper,  and  that 
Mary  ought  not  to  be  set  before  their  wives  and 
daughters  as  a  pattern. 

These  opinions  on  the  merits  of  this  case  are  by  no 
means  unnatural.  They  have  a  certain  show  of  rea- 
son about  them.  But  the  difficulty  with  them  is  that 
they  are  not  consistent  with  our  Lord's  evident  view 
of  the  matter.  Jesus  did  commend  Mary,  and  did  re- 
buke Martha.  If  he  had  not  expressed  himself  on 
the  question,  it  might  be  called  an  open  one ;  but  as 
it  is,  those  who  would  champion  Martha  in  her  con- 
duct must  admit  at  the  start  that  they  disagree  with 
their  Lord  as  to  prudence  and  duty. 

Christian  commentators,  unwilling  to  assert  that 
our  Lord  was  in  error,  unwilling  to  affirm  that  be- 
cause he  was  a  man  he  never  could  understand  the 
work  and  the  trials  of  a  woman, — yet  unprepared  to 
accept  the  apparent  truth  taught  in  his  rebuke  of 
Martha, — have  variously  endeavored  to  explain  away 
the  obvious  sense  of  his  words  by  strained  renderings 
of  the  simple  text.  Some  say  that  Jesus  sought  to 
assure  Martha  of  the  few  temporal  wants  of  himself 
and  his  disciples.  "  Do  not  be  anxious,"  they  under- 
stand him  to  say,  "  to  spread  a  great  dinner  of  *  many 
things'  for  us  to-day.     A  single   dish   is  all  that  we 


Trusting  Better  than  Worrying         263 

require."  And  so  the  **  one  thing  needful  "  is  Hmited 
in  its  appHcation  to  a  dinner  bill  of  fare  !  Such  a 
perversion  as  this  would  seem  too  trifling  for  serious 
mention,  were  it  not  that  so  many  have  accepted  it  as 
reasonable.  A  yet  more  common  incorrect  applica- 
tion of  the  one  thing  needful  is  to  the  salvation  of 
the  soul.  By  those  who  hold  this  view,  Mary's  choice 
is  called  wise  for  eternity,  even  though  she  neglected 
the  things  of  time.  She  was  preparing  for  a  place  in 
heaven,  however  poorly  she  filled  one  on  earth. 

Others  again  consider  that  both  sisters  did  well  in 
their  way.  "  Martha  was  zuctt  employed,"  says  a  dis- 
tinguished divine;  "but  Mary,  on  this  occasion,  ^^Z- 
/^r."  In  the  same  line  of  thought,  one  of  the  best 
approved  modern  commentaries  declares  :  *'  The  one 
[sister]  represents  the  contemplative,  the  other  the 
active  style  of  the  Christian  character.  A  church  full 
of  Marys  would  be  as  great  an  evil  as  a  church  full 
of  Marthas.  Both  are  wanted,  each  to  be  the  com- 
plement of  the  other."  Only  think  of  it !  A  church 
full  of  the  sort  of  person  approved  by  our  Saviour 
as  great  an  evil  as  a  church  full  of  a  sort  disapproved 
by  him  !  The  idea  of  this  commentary — and  it  is 
perhaps  a  popular  idea — is  that  Martha  was  the  sen- 
sible, active,  efficient  matron  who  did  the  housework 
in  the  Bethany  home,  while  Mary  was  a  fair  candidate 
for  a  nunnery  cloister,  a  devout  and  weak  sister,  who 
found  comfort  in  thinkiiig  about  good  things,  instead 
of  doing  them. 

Away  with  all  such  misconceptions  and  distortions 


264  Shoes  and  Ratiojis  for  a  Long  March 

of  the  text  as  these  !  Jesus  meant  what  he  said, — ^just 
what  a  httle  child  would  understand  from  his  words. 
Martha  was  wrong  in  being  anxiously  worried  over 
the  many  things  in  her  household  duties  ;  wrong  in 
thinking  that  it  would  be  a  loss  of  time  to  stop  and 
receive  counsel  and  instruction  from  Jesus  while  he 
was  in  her  home.  Mary  was  right  in  trusting  her 
Lord  and  Master  utterly ;  right  in  her  readiness  to 
wait  when  he  said  wait,  and  to  act  when  he  said  act. 
Mary  was  doubtless  a  better  housekeeper  than  Martha. 
She  probably  did  more  work  in  a  day,  and  did  it  bet- 
ter. Martha's  worry  did  not  lighten  her  burdens,  nor 
do  her  work.  On  the  contrary,  it  increased  her  bur- 
dens and  delayed  her  work.  Bustle  is  never  the  test 
of  true  efficiency.  Faith  never  hinders  wise  service. 
The  housekeepers  in  this  congregation — or  in  any 
other — who  do  most  work,  and  who  do  it  best,  are 
not  those  who  bluster  and  complain  most,  nor  are  they 
those  who  count  time  taken  for  prayer  and  for  com- 
munion with  God  as  lost  time.  The  Marys  are 
always  the  best  housewives,  as  well  as  the  best  church- 
members.  There  is  no  gain  for  the  life  that  now  is — 
nor  for  any  of  its  activities — in  following  the  exam- 
ple of  the  restless,  care-filled,  over-anxious,  impatient 
Martha. 

Suppose  you  had  just  hired  a  new  servant,  and  you 
told  her  to  stand  before  you  while  you  gave  her  direc- 
tions concerning  the  work  you  had  for  her  to  do. 
While  she  waited  patiently,  listening  to  your  words, 
suppose  another  of  your  servants   should   rush    into 


Trusting  Better  thaft  Worrying         265 

the  room,  declaring  that  it  was  washing-day,  and 
almost  dinner-time,  and  she  couldn't  be  expected  to 
do  all  the  kitchen  work  alone  at  such  a  time,  and  that 
you  ought  to  send  out  that  new  girl  to  help  her. 
Which  of  those  girls  would  you  count  the  best  serv- 
ant ?  the  one  who  did,  or  stood,  as  you  directed,  or 
the  one  who  chafed  restlessly  under  your  way  of 
managing  your  own  affairs?  The  error  of  those  who 
think  that  Martha's  course  was  better  than  Mary's,  is 
in  forgetting  that  Jesus  was  Lord  and  Master — as 
well  as  Friend — in  that  Bethany  home,  and  that  both 
sisters  ought  to  have  shown  themselves  his  willing — 
and,  if  necessary,  his  zvaitmg — servants.  Martha 
called  Jesus  both  "  Lord  "  and  '*  Master  "  (John  11  :  2 1 , 
28).  Mary  showed  by  her  conduct  that  she  so  con- 
sidered him. 

To  illustrate  from  another  and  more  active  sphere ; 
for  this  lesson  is  not  to  housekeepers  only:  A  sol- 
dier's chief  duty  is  to  obey  orders.  This  involves,  at 
times,  the  waiting  for  orders.  I  have  seen  the  officers 
and  men  of  a  veteran  regiment  lying  inactive  on  the 
ground  in  the  hour  of  thickest  fight  of  a  day  of 
bloody  battle.  The  roar  of  artillery  and  the  rattle  of 
musketry  were  heard  on  every  side.  Charge  and 
countercharge  were  made,  with  ringing  cheers,  at 
right  and  left,  along  the  sharply  contested  lines.  Shot 
and  shell  passed  over,  or  fell  among,  the  reclining 
soldiers.  The  dead  and  wounded  were  carried  past 
them  to  the  rear.  Frightened  stragglers  from  battal- 
ions already  in  action,  and  timid  orderlies  and  aides, 


266  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  Mai^ch 

carrying  messages  hither  and  thither,  told  nervously 
how  "  everything  was  going  against  us,"  and  wondered 
why  this  regiment  was  not  ordered  forward.  Yet 
all  the  while  the  waiting  soldiers  seemed  free  from 
anxiety.  They  drank  their  coffee,  or  munched  their 
rations,  or  read  home  letters,  or  chatted  with  one 
another,  or  even  slept. 

But  their  inaction  was  not  because  they  were  un- 
suited,  or  unwilling,  to  have  a  share  in  the  engage- 
ment. They  were  simply  **  in  reserve."  They  were 
waiting  orders.  Meanwhile  they  trusted  their  com- 
manders. They  had  no  worry;  no  care  beyond  their 
responsibility.  The  first  call  of  their  colonel,  "Atten- 
tion! "  would  bring  every  soldier  of  their  number  to 
his  feet,  ready  to  do  or  to  die  in  the  contest,  and  that 
long  quietly  waiting  regiment  would  be  worth  more 
in  a  fight  than  a  whole  brigade  of  worrying  soldiers 
who  doubted  the  skill  or  thoughtfulness  of  their  com- 
manding general,  and  were  afraid  that  he  had  waited 
too  long  before  calling  them,  or  would  fail  to  use 
them  to  best  advantage  now  that  they  were  in  action. 
So  always  in  God's  service  : 

"  Who  best 
Bear  his  mild  yoke,  they  serve  him  best ;  his  state 
Is  kingly ;  thousands  at  his  bidding  speed 
And  post  o'er  land  and  ocean  without  rest: 
They  also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait."  ^ 

'*  Wherefore,"  says  the  apostle  to  the  soldiers  of 
Christ,  "take  unto  you  the  whole  armour  of  God,  that 

1  Milton. 


Trusting  Better  than  Worrying        267 


ye  may  be  able  to  withstand  in  the  evil  day,  and  having 
done  all,  to  stand  "  (Eph.  6  :  13).  *'  In  your  patience 
possess  ye  your  souls"  (Luke  21  :  19),  says  Jesus. 
•'  Here,"  says  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,  '*  Here  is 
the  patience  and  the  faith  of  the  saints  "  (Rev.  13  :  10). 

Martha  lacked  patience  because  she  lacked  faith. 
Mary  had  a  faith  which  showed  itself  in  patient  wait- 
ing when  waiting  was  in  order,  and  would  have  shown 
itself  to  like  advantage  in  patient  household  work 
had  such  work  been  then  her  duty.  Remember  that 
it  was  this  same  Mary  who,  on  another  occasion, 
brought  so  costly  an  offering  of  love  to  Jesus  as  to 
startle  the  calculating  disciples  by  its  extravagant 
lavishness  (Mark  14  :  3,  4;  John  11  :  i,  2).  Remem- 
ber that  it  was  of  her  that  Jesus  declared,  "  She  hath 
wrought  a  good  work.  .  .  .  She  hath  done  what  she 
could," — done  her  utmost;  and  '* Wheresoever  this 
gospel  shall  be  preached  throughout  the  whole  world, 
this  also  that  she  hath  done  shall  be  spoken  of  for  a 
memorial  of  her  "  (Mark  14  :  6-9).  Of  what  other 
woman's  work  was  there  ever  such  a  record  ? 

Whether  it  were  giving,  or  doing,  or  waiting,  that 
Jesus  asked  for,  Mary  was  ready.  He  knew  best 
what  was  her  duty  of  the  hour,  and  what  were  his 
wants.  Lovingly,  restfully,  she  was  at  his  service, 
and  this  it  was  that  he  commended  in  her  so  heartily. 

"  Christ  never  asks  of  us  such  busy  labor 
As  leaves  no  time  for  resting  at  his  feet ; 
The  waiting  attitude  of  expectation, 

He  ofttimes  counts  a  service  most  complete. 


2  68  Shoes  mid  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


"We  sometimes  wonder  why  our  Lord  doth  place  us 
Within  a  sphere  so  narrow,  so  obscure, 
That  nothing  we  call  work  can  find  an  entrance ; 
There's  only  room  to  suffer — to  endure  ! 

"  Well,  God  loves  patience  !     Souls  that  dwell  in  stillness, 
Doing  the  little  things,  or  resting  quite. 
May  just  as  perfectly  fulfil  their  mission, 
Be  just  as  useful  in  the  Father's  sight, 

"  As  they  who  grapple  with  some  giant  evil. 
Clearing  a  path  that  every  eye  may  see  ! 
Our  Saviour  cares  for  cheerful  acquiescence. 
Rather  than  for  a  busy  ministry." 

This  is  the  blessed  teaching  of  the  incident  of  the 
text.  Let  us  recognize  its  appHcation  to  our  individ- 
ual needs. 


"  But  one  thing  is  needful."  "  One  thing."  What 
thing?  Mary  had  it.  Martha  lacked  it.  We  ought 
to  want  it.  Just  what  is  it  ?  Implicit  faith,  restful 
trust,  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  this  one  thing 
needful;  needful  in  the  greatest  matters,  needful  in 
the  least;  needful  at  one  time,  needful  at  all  times. 
To  begin  with  :  This  faith — this  resting  one's  self  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — is  essential  to  salvation. 

We  can  not  save  ourselves.  We  must  be  saved — 
or  we  must  continue  lost.  All  of  us  have  sinned. 
"  The  wages  of  sin  is  death  ;  but  the  gift  of  God  is 
eternal  hfe  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord"  (Rom. 
6  :  23).  This  truth  is  the  distinguishing  feature  of 
Christianity,  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible.     Mark  that ! 


Trusting  Better  than  Worrying        269 


He  who  studies  most  closely  the  "  science  of  compar- 
ative religions,"  can  find  in  no  sacred  books,  of  old 
faiths  or  new,  anything  to  show  a  Saviour  of  sinners 
except  the  story  of  Jesus, — Jesus  in  prophecy,  and 
Jesus  in  history.  "  Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any 
other:  for  there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven 
given  among  men"  (Acts  4  :  12), — even  proposed  or 
suggested, — "whereby  we  must  be  saved." 

Think  for  yourselves !  What  is  the  grand,  distinct- 
ive peculiarity  of  the  Christian  religion  ?  It  is  not 
the  purity  of  its  moral  code;  not  the  prominence  it 
gives  to  unselfish  love  for  others;  not  the  inducement 
it  offers  to  men  to  live  for  eternity.  Christianity  has 
power  through  all  these  features.  Yet  in  false  re- 
ligions there  are  glimpses  of  the  same  great  truths. 
The  exceptional  and  glorious  characteristic  of  Chris- 
tianity— separating  it  utterly  from  every  other  religion 
— is  its  presentation  of  a  Redeemer  for  the  lost. 
Yes !  the  truth  of  truths  in  the  Bible  is,  not  in  the 
Ten  Commandments ;  not  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount;  not  in  the  Golden  Rule;  not  in  the  Parable 
of  the  Prodigal  Son,  or  of  the  Good  Samaritan ;  not 
in  the  description  of  the  City  of  God  ;  but  it  is  in 
the  story  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  sinners. 

It  was  to  the  young  man  who  claimed  to  have  kept 
all  the  commandments  from  his  youth  up,  that  Jesus 
said,  "  One  thing  thou  lackest"  (Mark  10  :  21).  The 
"one  thing"  which  the  young  man  lacked  was  the 
"  one  thing  "  which  Mary  had  chosen, — a  willing- 
ness to   give  up  everything — one's  self,  one's  plans, 


2  JO  Shoes  and  Ratio7is  for  a  Long  March 

one's  possessions,  one's  occupation — to  Jesus,  and  to 
trust  him  utterly  (Matt.  19  :  21).  The  young  man 
was  as  wilHng  to  work  as  was  Martha,  but  he  could 
not  trust  like  Mary.  Whatever  else  a  sinner  has,  if 
he  lacks  this  one  thing  he  has  no  safety.  Only  Jesus 
can  give  salvation.  *'  He  that  believeth  on  him 
[trusteth  himself  to  him]  is  not  condemned:  but  he 
that  believeth  not  [trusteth  not]  is  condemned  already, 
because  he  hath  not  believed  [not  trusted]  in  the 
name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God  "  (John  3  :  18). 
Remember  that  these  are  the  words  of  Jesus  himself. 
They  are  words  of  truth ;  God's  words. 

And  this  implicit  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
which  is  essential  to  salvation  is  the  only  thing  on 
which  our  salvation  depends.  This  is  clearly  implied 
in  the  words  of  our  Lord  in  the  text,  "  But  one  thing  " 
— one  thing  only — "  is  needful."  The  one  needful 
thing  is  the  one  thing  needful.  It  is  the  only  thing 
needful,  because  it  includes  all  else  that  is  of  impor- 
tance. *'  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved,  and  thy  house"  (Acts  16  :  31).  These 
were  the  words  of  the  inspired  Paul  and  Silas  to  the 
inquiring  jailer  of  Philippi.  They  are  as  true  now 
as  then ;  and  they  state  fully  the  terms  of  salvation  to 
every  lost  sinner  seeking  to  be  saved. 

Of  course,  a  man  must  realize  that  he  is  lost,  or  he 
will  not  seek  to  be  saved.  There  can  be  no  salvation 
unless  there  is  something  to  be  saved  from.  But  he 
who  knows  that  he  is  lost,  and  wants  to  be  saved,  can 
have  salvation  by  simply  trusting  himself  to  Jesus  as 


Trusting  Better  than  Worrying         2  7 1 

his  Saviour.  Saving  faith  has  been  well  defined  by 
Dr.  Bushnell  as  "  that  act  by  which  one  person,  a 
sinner,  commits  himself  to  another  person — tJic 
Saviour."  That  is  all  there  is  of  it — the  "one  thin^^" 
needful. 

Oh  !  how  many  sinners  who  want  to  be  saved  are 
like  Martha,  "  careful  and  troubled  about  many 
things,"  when  "  but  one  thing  is  needful,"  and  that 
one  so  simple.  They  are  troubled  lest  they  are  not 
enough  troubled.  They  are  afraid  that  they  are  not 
enough  afraid.  They  question  whether  they  know 
enough  about  all  the  questions  which  will  force  them- 
selves upon  every  one  who  thinks  at  all  of  religion. 
They  let  the  fact  that  they  are  sinners  stand  in  the 
way  of  their  faith,  when  in  truth  they  could  not  be 
saved  unless  they  were  sinners.  They  worry  over 
doctrines,  or  duties,  or  feelings,  or  experiences,  when 
all  the  time  they  might  be  like  Mary  sitting  in  restful 
peace  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  hearing  gladly  his  word. 

And  now  one  step  further.  Implicit  trust  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  needful,  and  is  the  one  thing 
needful,  to  give  us  success  and  peace  in  meeting  the 
duties  and  trials  of  every-day  life. 

We — and  when  I  say  "we"  I  mean  to  include  all 
those  who  look  to  Jesus  as  their  Saviour — we  are 
quite  as  dependent  on  Jesus  for  protection  and  guid- 
ance and  supply  hour  by  hour  as  for  the  hope  of 
eternal  salvation.  "  The  Father  had  given  all  things 
into  his  hands  "  (John  13:3),  "  and  by  him  all  things 
consist"  (Col.  I  ;  17).     What  can  we  feel  capable  of 


272   Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

doing,  or  of  holding,  without  his  consent  and  assist- 
ance ? 

Just  at  this  point  is  where  Mary's  discipleship  was 
satisfactory  to  Jesus,  as  Martha's  w^as  not.  Martha 
recognized  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  She  trusted  him  in 
what  she  counted  his  sphere.  Had  she  been  dying 
she  would  not  have  doubted  him  for  then,  and  for 
thenceforward.  But  she  felt  no  dependence  on  him 
in  her  daily  household  work.  TJiat  was  her  burden, 
and  not  his.  She  was,  indeed,  out  of  patience  with 
Mary  for  looking  to  Jesus  for  direction  and  counsel 
before  dinner  was  ready.  ''  I  enjoy  Christian  exer- 
cises," she  might  have  said,  "  as  much  as  anybody,  at 
a  proper  time.  I  like  spiritual  communings  when  I 
have  leisure  for  them.  But  work  is  work,  and  religion 
is  religion.  It  is  no  time  to  talk  religion  when  work 
presses  as  it  does  in  this  house  just  now."  To  Martha, 
Jesus  was  a  Teacher  and  a  Master  only  with  reference 
to  things  spiritual — in  their  time. 

Mary's  faith  in  Jesus  was,  on  the  other  hand,  all- 
inclusive.  She  believed  that  he  knew  better  than  she 
what  she  ought  to  do,  and  when  and  how.  He  would 
not,  she  was  sure,  let  any  lack  remain  through  her  in- 
action when  he  bade  her  wait.  She  drew  no  such 
line  of  distinction  between  work  and  religion  as  would 
keep  them  apart  in  her  daily  living  and  doing.  She 
could  get  along  without  divine  help  no  more  easily  in 
the  "kitchen  than  in  the  parlor  ;  in  her  home  than  in  the 
sanctuary.  She  would  be,  in  either  place,  at  the  call 
of  Jesus.     She  would  trust  him  absolutely  in  both. 


Trusting  Better  than  Worrying        273 


Ah  !  it  was  Mary — not  Martha — who  trusted  and 
best  served  God  in  every-day  Hfe.  Mary  was  the 
practical  Christian  woman ;  Martha  was  the  speculative 
one.  Mary's  religion  was  good  for  seven  days  in  the 
week.  Martha's  was  good  for  the  Sabbath,  and  for 
week-days — after  her  work  was  done.  When  her 
brother  Lazarus  was  dead,  Martha  wished  that  Jesus 
had  been  at  hand.  When  dinner  was  to  be  made 
ready,  she  only  wanted  Mary.  Yet  her  need  of  Jesus 
was  no  greater,  and  her  rest  on  him  should  have  been 
none  the  less,  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other.  This 
lesson  was  included  in  our  Lord's  rebuke  of  Martha 
when  she  complained  of  Mary. 

We  are  all  prone  to  divide  our  needs  into  two  classes : 
Those  where  we  must  have  God's  help,  and  those 
where  that  does  not  seem  so  essential.  The  little  boy 
who  wanted  to  ask  God  to  take  care  of  him  nights, 
but  didn't  think  he  needed  to  pray  mornings,  "  be- 
cause he  could  take  care  of  himself  day-times,"  was 
a  good  deal  like  the  rest  of  us  in  counting  God's  pro- 
tection and  ministry  more  necessary  at  one  time  than 
at  another. 

Many  Christians  who  will  pray  earnestly  for  for- 
giveness of  sins,  for  strength  against  temptation,  for 
support  in  sorrow  or  trial ;  and  who  will  call  on  God 
for  safety  in  personal  danger,  or  for  restored  health 
in  sickness, — never  think  of  going  to  Jesus  trustfully 
for  instruction  and  assistance  in  training  their  children, 
in  curbing  their  own  tempers,  in  improving  their 
speech  and  manners,  in  managing  their  business,  in 


2  74  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

_ — . . — ■ <\ 

doing  a  difficult  task — balancing  a  cash  account, 
driving  a  spirited  horse,  learning  or  teaching  a  lesson, 
choosing  a  place  of  summer  resort,  buying  a  coat, 
trimming  a  bonnet,  finding  a  servant,  or  making  a 
loaf  of  bread.  But  who  shall  say  that  any  one  of 
these  things  is  beneath  our  Saviour's  notice — if  it  is 
of  importance  to  one  of  his  disciples  ?  Or  who  shall 
affirm  that  any  such  thing  is  within  our  sphere  of  un- 
aided control  ? 

''Whether  is  easier,  to  say,  Thy  sins  be  forgiven 
thee;  or  to  say,  Arise  and  walk?"  (Matt.  9  :  5)  asked 
Jesus,  when  he  stood  ready  to  cleanse  a  guilty  soul, 
or  to  cure  a  diseased  body.  He  asks  the  same  ques- 
tion now,  of  those  who  feel  their  need  of  him  in  spir- 
itual things,  but  think  they  can  take  care  of  them- 
selves in  things  temporal.  If  you  can  answer  the 
prayer,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,"  why  can 
not  you  also  grant  the  petitions,  "  Forgive  us  our 
debts,"  and  "  Deliver  us  from  evil  "?  The  words  of 
Jesus  on  this  point  to  his  disciples  are,  "Without  me 
ye  can  do  nothing  "  (John  15:5). 

It  is  because  so  many  Christians  who  trust  Jesus  in 
greater  things  fail  to  trust  him  in  the  lesser,  that  their 
religion  appears  to  such  disadvantage  in  their  ordinary 
daily  life.  Martha  showed  a  far  more  lovely  spirit 
while  struggling  under  a  sense  of  her  brother's  loss 
than  when  perplexed  in  preparing  a  dinner.  And,  as 
a  bright  New  England  preacher  has  suggested,  "  Many 
a  man's  Christianity  could  stand  burnings  at  the  stake, 
which  would  fail  over  a  burnt  biscuit,  or  a  bad  cup 


Trusting  Better  than  Worrying         275 

of  coffee."  ^  Even  wives  who  sympathize  with  Martha 
in  her  worry  will  be  inclined  to  admit  the  truth  of 
this  statement  concerning  the  average  Christian  hus- 
band. But  what  a  low  estimate  it  is  of  the  grace 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  that  limits  its  exercise  to 
great  occasions,  or  that  doubts  its  potency  outside  of 
the  spiritual  realm.  God's  love  is  no  more  to  be  re- 
strained in  the  one  direction  than  in  the  other.  '*  He 
that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for 
us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us 
all  things?  "  (Rom.  8  :  32.)  Why  should  we  distrust 
God's  readiness  to  supply  our  minor  needs,  since  he 
has  given  us  unasked  the  costliest  treasure  of  the  uni- 
verse ? 

As  a  Christian  disciple,  you  have  no  more  right  to 
worry  about  your  household  work,  your  business,  or 
your  profession,  than  you  have  to  worry  about  your 
salvation.  Worry  of  any  sort  is  out  of  place  in  a  fol- 
lower of  Jesus.  It  is  a  load  we  have  no  need  to  carry. 
One  of  my  little  daughters  brought  to  me,  a  while  ago, 
a  quarto  geography  having  on  its  cover  a  picture  of 
fabled  Atlas,  bearing  the  globe  on  his  shoulders. 
Pointing  to  the  over-burdened  man,  with  his  bowed 
head,  up-strained  shoulders,  and  distended  muscles, 
staggering  under  the  weight  that  seemed  just  ready 
to  crush  him,  she  said,  in  pitying  sympathy,  '*  Papa ! 
why  don't  that  man  lay  that  thing  down  ?  "  "  Well, 
my  dear,"  I  answered,  "it  would  be  a  great  deal  better 
if  he  did.     But  that  man  has  the  idea  that  he  must 

1  President  Foss  of  Wesleyan. 


276  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


carry  the  world  on  his  shoulders.  There  are  a  good 
many  men  of  that  sort,  as  you  will  find  when  you  are 
older."  That  child's  question  is  a  pertinent  one  to 
any  of  you  who  are  struggling  under  an  oppressive 
burden  of  personal  anxiety  of  any  nature  whatsoever. 
"  Why  don't  you  lay  that  thing  down  ?  "  "  Cast  th\' 
burden  upon  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  sustain  thee  " 
(Psa.  55  :  22).  It  is  not  always  the  work  that  is  to  be 
given  up,  but  it  is  the  worry  about  it.  "  Come  unto 
me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,"  says  that 
Jesus  at  whose  feet  Mary  sat  trustfully,  "  and  I  will 
give  you  rest  "  (Matt.  1 1  :  28).  Why  will  you  not 
heed  that  invitation,  and  so  ''  find  rest  unto  your 
souls  "  ? 

But  may  we  be  sure,  you  perhaps  ask,  that  this 
invitation  includes  all  the  ordinary  burdens  of  daily 
life  ?  that  it  is  not  limited  to  spiritual  things  ?  Hear 
how  our  Lord  explains  it.  ''Therefore  take  no 
thought," — retain  no  burden  of  anxiety  or  worry, — 
"  saying,  What  shall  we  eat  ?  or,  What  shall  we  drink  ? 
or,  Wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ?  .  .  .  For  your 
heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all 
these  things.  But  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  his  righteousness  ;  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you  (Matt.  6  :  31-33)-  Not  much  doubt 
as  to  his  meaning  there ! 

But  all  this  was  to  the  personal  disciples  of  Jesus, 
you  say,  while  he  was  here  in  the  flesh,  working  mira- 
cles for  the  benefit  of  his  loved  ones.  We  can  look 
for  no  such  wonderful  help  as  he  gave  to  them  in 


Trusting  Better  than  Worrying        277 

their  need.  How  was  it  with  Martha  ?  The  personal 
Jesus  was  there,  in  her  home.  He  who  had  fed  five 
thousand  with  five  loaves,  and  four  thousand  with 
seven  loaves  (Matt.  16:9,  10),  was  her  guest  and  her 
friend ;  yet  she  was  in  a  fret  lest  dinner  should  be 
lacking  for  a  household  of  less  than  a  half-dozen. 

Ah  !  it  was  a  want  of  faitJi,  not  of  sigJit,  that  was 
the  trouble  with  Martha ;  that  is  always  the  trouble 
with  a  worrying  disciple.  If  only  Martha  had  had 
Mary's  trust,  she  would  have  found  time  and  inclina- 
tion to  listen  to  Jesus, — dinner  or  no  dinner.  The 
promise  of  Jesus  to  his  disciples  is,  "  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world"  (Matt. 
28  :  20).  He  is  working  wonders  continually  for 
those  who  trust  him.  There  are  multitudes  who, 
through  faith  in  him,  do  live  without  worry,  who  do 
Martha's  work  in  the  spirit  of  Mary.  Yoii  ought  to 
be  of  that  number. 

Lord  !  *'  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace,  whose 
mind  is  stayed  on  thee :  because  he  trusteth  in  thee  " 
(Isa.  26  :  3), — because  he  trusteth  in  thee !  Not  be- 
cause everything  runs  smoothly  is  the  believer  kept 
in  perfect  peace,  but  because  his  trust  is  implicit  in 
Jesus,  who  is  over  all  and  in  all,  however  things  run. 
When  things  go  wrong  in  his  family,  or  in  his  busi- 
ness ;  when  he  is  misunderstood  or  slandered,  or 
betrayed ;  when  he  is  in  sickness  or  in  sorrow,  in 
loneliness  or  in  want ;  when  duties  and  responsibili- 
ties multiply, — he  can  trust  the  Lord  for  sympathy, 
for  support,  for  guidance;  can  trust  him  to  provide 


278  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

for  him  and  for  his,  and  to  bring  good  even  out  of 
what  now  seems  only  evil.  When,  on  the  other  hand, 
all  is  bright  in  his  home  and  in  his  friendships,  and 
his  business  prospers,  and  his  influence  extends,  and 
he  has  health  and  honors  and  opportunities, — he  can 
trust  the  Lord  to  give  him  wisdom  and  grace  to  fill 
his  place  acceptably,  and  to  use  his  possessions  prop- 
erly. He  can,  indeed,  say  with  Paul,  in  all  heartiness, 
*'  I  have  learned,  in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  therewith 
to  be  content.  I  know  both  how  to  be  abased,  and  I 
know  how  to  abound  :  every  where  and  in  all  things  I 
am  instructed  both  to  be  full  and  to  be  hungry,  both 
to  abound  and  to  suffer  need.  I  can  do  all  things 
through    Christ    which    strengtheneth    me "     (Phil. 

4:  11-13)- 


PERIL  AND  POWER  THROUGH 
TEMPTATION 


XII 

PERIL  AND  POWER  THROUGH 
TEMPTATION 

Early  in  my  Christian  life  I  learned  that  no  place 
of  spiritual  privilege  lifted  one  above  the  possibility 
of  temptation.  A  disciple  is  liable  to  be  tempted  to 
special  sins  while  on  his  knees  in  prayer,  or  while 
engaged  in  effort  to  win  a  soul  to  Christ,  and  even 
while  sitting  with  his  fellow-disciples  at  the  table  of 
Communion  with  his  Saviour. 

This  truth  I  found  confirmed  in  my  chaplain  ex- 
perience in  the  army.  In  consequence,  I  desired  to 
caution  Christian  soldiers  to  be  on  their  gruard  at  all 
times  against  the  ever-watchful  enemy  of  their  souls. 
I  preached  in  New  Berne,  North  Carolina,  in  1862,  a 
sermon  on  the  subject  of  "  Peril  and  Power  through 
Temptation,"  as  based  on  the  story  of  the  temptations 
of  Jesus,  recorded  in  Matthew  4  :  i-i  i.  This  sermon, 
for  which  I  made  notes,  but  which  I  did  not  write  out, 
I  preached  again  in  Columbia  Jail,  in  1863.  Yet  later  I 
preached  it  to  my  regiment  before  Richmond,  in  the 
spring  of  1864;  and  I  then  repeated  it,  near  the  same 
place,   before   the   Eleventh   Maine   regiment    of  my 


brigade. 


281 


282  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


The  truth  of  this  discourse  I  had  occasion  to  em- 
phasize in  prayer-meeting  talks  and  in  personal  con- 
versation with  young  beUevers,  at  various  times,  as 
the  years  passed  on.  But  not  until  nearly  forty  years 
from  the  time  of  its  first  preaching  did  I  write  out 
this  sermon  for  preaching  in  a  home  pulpit.  My 
earliest  notes,  however,  gave  me  reminder  of  the  illus- 
trations as  I  first  gave  them,  and  as  I  wrote  them  out 
twoscore  years  later.  The  sermon  here  given  is  prac- 
tically the  same  as  preached  in  the  camp  of  my  regi- 
ment in  New  Berne,  in  1862,  soon  after  I  joined  my 
regiment  as  an  inexperienced  chaplain  and  untrained 
preacher. 

I  wrote  it  out  for  preaching  in  the  pulpit  of  my 
pastor.  Dr.  Dana,  in  the  Walnut  Street  Presbyterian 
Church,  Philadelphia.  But  before  the  day  came  when 
I  was  to  preach  it,  I  was  stricken  down,  and  became 
practically  a  '*  shut-in."  So  this  sermon,  as  thus 
written  out,  was  the  last  sermon  of  my  life-work,  and 
after  being  thus  written  out,  it  was  never  preached. 


ADDED  DANGERS  WITH  ADDED  BLESSINGS 

Then  was  Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit  into  the  wilder- 
ness to  be  tempted  of  the  devil  (Matt.  4:1). 

"  Then  was  Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit  into  the  wil- 
derness to  be  tempted  of  the  devil."  "  Then  !  "  When  ? 
After  he  had  been  baptized  of  John  in  the  Jordan, 
and  the  heavens  had  been  opened  above  him,  and  he 
had  had  a  new  glimpse  of  their  glories,  and  he  had 
seen  the  Spirit  of  God  coming  down  upon  him  from 
above,  and  he  had  heard  the  loved  voice  of  his  Father 
speaking  out  of  the  heavens,  saying,  "This  is  my 
beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased."  "  Then;' 
just  then,  *' was  Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit  into  the 
wilderness  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil." 

Marvelous  record  !  Strange  time  for  such  an  event! 
Yet  this  is  the  Gospel  story. 

For  thirty  years  Jesus  had  been  living  the  lowly 
life  of  a  carpenter's  son  in  Galilee,  with  no  evidence 
in  his  surroundings  that  he  was  heir  to  a  throne, — 
himself  a  king,  and  the  Son  of  the  King  of  kings. 
If,  in  those  long  years,  Jesus  had  at  times  been 
tempted  to  be  discouraged,  or  to  doubt,  or  to  be 
impatient,  it  would  not,  indeed,  have  seemed  to  us 
very  strange  or  improbable ;    but  now,  when  he  was 

283 


284  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

newly  uplifted  in    spiritual    privileges,  it   does  seem 
strange. 

Yet,  strange  as  seems  the  fact,  it  is  a  fact ;  and  we 
may  well  learn  a  lesson  for  our  own  course  in  life 
from  this  experience  of  him  who  is  our  Example  as 
well  as  our  Saviour.  If  he  was  approached  by  the 
tempter  in  an  hour  of  a  spiritual  uplift,  we  must 
expect  to  be. 

/.  Spiritual  privileges  are  often  accompanied  by  spe- 
cial temptations. 

It  was  while  the  Hebrews  were  ''fresh  from  the 
miracles  of  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Nile,"  and  were  en- 
camped before  the  very  mountain  that  flashed  and 
smoked  with  the  signs  of  God's  presence,  that  they 
were  tempted  to  make  a  golden  calf  and  to  bow  down 
before  it  in  worship. 

It  was  from  the  very  supper  of  the  covenant  love 
of  Jesus  with  his  disciples,  that  one  of  those  disciples 
went  out  to  betray  him.  Jesus  had  just  given  to 
Judas  the  sop,  or  dipped  morsel,  which  was  a  token 
of  favor  and  fidelity,  and  it  was  *'  after  the  sop  "  that 
Satan  entered  into  Judas  (John  13  :  27). 

As  it  was  in  Bible  times,  so  it  is  in  our  day.  It  is 
when  we  might  suppose  ourselves  freest  from  spiritual 
peril,  that  we  have  need  to  watch  against  special 
temptation.  Now  as  always,  "  Let  him  that  thinketh 
he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall  "  (i  Cor.  10  :  12). 

A  young  soldier  came  to  my  tent  one  day  in  war- 
time,— the  Civil  War  I  refer  to, — with  a  heavy  heart. 


Peril  and  Power  Throiigh  Temptatio7i    285 

"  Chaplain,"  he  said,  "  I'm  discouraged.  It  don't 
seem  to  be  any  use  trying  to  be  good.  This  morning 
I  got  up  before  sunrise,  and  went  outside  the  camp 
into  the  woods  to  pray.  I  asked  God  to  help  me  do 
right  to-day.  I  had  a  good  time  in  prayer.  I  came 
back  into  camp  feeling  pretty  strong  for  the  day. 
But  some  one  got  me  mad  before  breakfast,  and  soon 
I  was  swearing  and  cursing  as  if  I'd  never  prayed  at 
all.     It  doesn't  seem  as  if  praying  helped  me  a  bit." 

That  young  soldier  was  simply  finding  that  a  tem- 
porary spiritual  uplift  does  not  raise  one  above  the 
danger  of  temptation.  The  fight  is  from  the  begin- 
ning to  the  end ;  it  is  now  in  days  of  peace  as  it  was 
in  war-time. 

A  disciple  of  Christ  often  finds  that  he  is  specially 
tempted  as  he  goes  from  the  prayer-meeting  or  the 
Communion  table,  or  from  an  hour  of  peculiarly  pre- 
cious intercourse  with  his  Saviour  in  private  devotion. 
Nor  is  this  to  be  in  any  degree  wondered  at. 

John  Newton  says,  *'  It  is  the  man  who  is  bringing 
his  dividend  from  the  bank  door  who  has  most  cause 
to  fear  the  pilferer's  hand."  It  is  the  full  purse,  not 
the  empty  pocket,  that  is  attractive  to  the  plunderer. 
Or,  as  an  old  divine  says,  *'  The  Devil  strikes  at  his 
foes,  not  at  his  friends." 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  it  may  be  said  that  the 
nearer  we  get  to  the  summit  the  harder  we  have  to 
struggle  for  the  overcoming  of  difficulties  in  our  up- 
ward spiritual  journey.  This  may  seem  discouraging 
to   one  who  is  just  setting  out  in  the  Christian  life; 


286  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

but  those  who  have  been  longest  on  the  road  will  be 
readiest  to  admit  this  truth. 

"  '  Does  the  road  wind  up  hill  all  the  way  ? ' 
'  Yes,  to  the  very  end.' 
'  Will  the  day's  journey  take  the  whole  long  day? ' 
'  From  morn  to  night,  my  friend.'  "  ^ 

Yet  who  would  have  an  easy  time  slipping  down 
hill,  in  preference  to  a  hard  time  struggling  upward  ? 

"  Theit  was  Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit  into  the  wil- 
derness to  be  tempted  of  the  devil," — then,  when  he 
had  reached  a  lofty  height  of  spiritual  privilege. 

2.  Tejnptations  may  come  of  a  most  unexpected  char- 
acter. 

This  was  so  in  the  case  of  Jesus.  "  If  thou  art  the 
Son  of  God,"  said  the  tempter.  The  first  suggestion 
was  to  doubt  the  Father's  word,  as  if  it  were  '*  too 
eood  to  be  true."  So  it  has  been  with  children  of 
God  since  that  day. 

The  divine  record  stands,  **  Now  the  man  Moses 
was  very  meek,  above  all  the  men  which  were  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth  (Num.  12:3).  Yet,  when  he 
had  reached  the  zenith  of  his  spiritual  power  as  a 
leader,  Moses  yielded  to  the  temptation  to  lose  his 
patience  with  the  people  whom  he  led,  and  in  so  doing 
he  dishonored  God  before  them  at  the  rock  of  Ka- 
desh  (Num.  20  :  7-12).  Who  would  have  thought  it? 
Who  can  doubt  it? 

Elijah  was   a  bold  and  daring  hero-prophet.     He 

1  Christine  G.  Rossetti. 


Peril  and  Power  Through  Temptation    287 


defied  king  and  priest  in  behalf  of  his  God.  He  met 
and  vanquished  the  hosts  of  Baal,  putting  all  their 
priests  to  the  sword.  Then  when,  in  the  hour  of 
spiritual  triumph,  he  seemed  above  an  ordinary  man's 
weakness,  he  was  tempted  to  discouragement  and  de- 
spair, and  he  fled  like  a  coward  before  the  threats  of 
a  woman,  and  he  wanted  to  die  because  life  seemed 
not  worth  Hving  (i  Kings  18,  19).  Who  would  have 
thought  it !     Who  can  doubt  it  ? 

Peter  was  the  "  rock-man "  among  the  apostles. 
His  confident  cry  to  his  Master  was,  "  Though  all 
men  shall  be  offended  because  of  thee,  yet  will  I  never 
be  offended"  (Matt.  26  :  33).  And  when  he  was  ex- 
plicitly warned  of  his  peril  in  this  direction  by  that 
Master,  Peter  "  spake  the  more  vehemently,  If  I 
should  die  with  thee,  yet  will  I  not  deny  thee.  Like- 
wise also  said  they  all  "  (Mark  14  :  31).  Yet  that  very 
night  every  one  of  those  confident  disciples  forsook 
Jesus,  and  fled  in  fear  for  their  safety  ;  and  Peter,  who 
began  by  drawing  his  sword  in  defence  of  Jesus  (John 
18  :  10),  actually  stood  trembling  and  lying  and  swear- 
ing before  a  servant  girl,  within  sight  of  that  Master 
for  whom  he  declared  he  was  ready  to  die  (Mark 
14:66-71).  Who  would  have  thought  it  ?  Who  can 
doubt  it  ? 

When  Jesus  was  transfigured  on  the  mount  (Matt. 
17  :  1-13  ;  Mark  9:2-13;  Luke  9  :  28-36),  there  ap- 
peared Moses  and  Elijah  with  him,  and  Peter  had 
accompanied  him  to  that  place  of  privilege.  All 
these  had  known  what  it  was  to  meet  temptations  of 


2  88  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

an  unexpected  character  in  connection  with  exalted 
spiritual  opportunities.  Can  any  later  disciple  of 
Jesus  confidently  hope  to  escape  similar  trial  in  this 
life  ?  "A  disciple  is  not  above  his  master,  nor  a  serv- 
ant above  his  lord.  It  is  enough  for  the  disciple  that 
he  be  as  his  master,  and  the  servant  as  his  lord " 
(Matt.  lO  :  24,  25). 

Temptations  are  likely  to  assail  us  on  our  strongest 
side,  or  rather  on  what  we  deem  our  strongest.  We 
are,  indeed,  more  likely  to  be  on  our  guard  against 
what  are  our  known  weaknesses ;  but  we  may  be 
over-confident  or  careless  where  we  feel  strongest. 
This  it  is  that  causes  our  special  danger  from  unex- 
pected temptations. 

When  a  man  says  confidently,  "  If  the  Lord  will 
guard  me  at  other  points,  I  can  take  care  of  myself 
with  reference  to  this,  or  that,  particular  sin,  because 
I  can  never  be  tempted  in  that  line,"  that  man  needs 
watching,  or  rather  he  needs  to  watch  himself.  He 
does  not  know  himself,  and  he  may  not  even  be 
known  by  his  fellows. 

"  Beware  of  Peter's  word  ! 
Nor  confidently  say, 
'  I  never  will  deny  the  Lord,' 
But,  '  Grant  I  never  may.'  " 

A  loved  elder  of  this  church  who  has  entered  into 
rest,  and  who  was  honored  and  looked  up  to  by  others 
than  myself,  newly  impressed  this  truth  upon  me  by 
one  of  his  wise  utterances.     He  was  one  of  the  clean- 

1  W.  Cowper. 


Peril  and  Power  Through  Temptation    289 

est  and  purest  spirits  I  ever  knew.  It  was,  therefore, 
something  of  a  surprise  to  hear  him  say  frankly,  as 
he  spoke  of  himself: 

**  I  never  hear  of  a  sin  or  a  crime  committed  by 
any  man,  however  shocking  or  horrible  it  may  be, 
without  the  feeling  that  /  might  be  capable  of  doing 
the  same  thing  if  I  were  tempted  to  it." 

Yet  that  frank  confession,  because  it  was  a  frank 
confession,  only  gave  me  added  confidence  in  that 
noble  man.  It  was  because  he  had  no  trust  in 
his  own  goodness  of  nature,  or  purity  of  life,  or  rich 
spiritual  experience,  and  was  not  therefore  thinking 
that  he  stood  firmly,  that  he  was  all  the  less  likely  to 
fall. 

As  we  ascend  the  pathway  of  life,  we  do  not  rise 
above  possible  and  unlooked-for  temptations.  We 
ought  not  to  feel  that  because  we  have  never  been 
tempted  in  a  certain  direction,  therefore  we  never  shall 
be,  any  more  than  we  should  because  we  have  been 
tempted  many  times  in  a  certain  line,  and  have  as  often 
resisted  the  temptation. 

Many  a  soldier  of  earth,  officer  or  enlisted  man, 
who  has  fought  bravely  through  a  dozen  battles,  has 
shown  himself  cowardly  in  the  thirteenth.  Many 
another  who  has  been  courageous  in  the  thirteenth 
has  been  tempted  not  to  be  so.  Any  old  soldier  will 
tell  you  that  this  is  so,  even  if  he  cannot  explain  it. 
As  long  as  we  live  the  life  that  now  is,  we  are  liable 
to  encounter  temptation,  and  we  have  no  right  to  feel 
that  we  are  sure  to  keep  up  even  to  our  own  highest 


290  Shoes  and  Rations  foi^  a  Long  March 

level  of  hitherto.  Any  man's  Hfe  is  hkely  to  have 
surprises  in  the  temptation  line,  even  to  the  day  of 
his  death. 

Yet,  just  here,  we  ought  not  to  ignore  the  encour- 
aging fact  that 

J.  Temptations  triumphed  over  are  a  means  of  nezv 
strength. 

There  is  no  sin  in  being  tempted.  It  is  distinctly 
declared  in  our  text  that  Jesus  was  at  this  time  "  led 
up  of  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted  of 
the  devil."  Surely  the  Spirit  of  God  did  not  err  in 
leading  Jesus  to  where  he  would  meet  temptation  ; 
nor  did  Jesus  sin  in  following  the  lead  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  into  the  place  where  temptation  was  to  be  met. 
Sin  is  in  yielding  to  temptation,  not  in  meeting  it  in 
the  path  of  duty  where  God  would  have  us  go. 

There  was  a  gain  to  Jesus,  as  our  Saviour,  in  meet- 
ing and  battling  temptation.  He  understands  our 
case  the  better  in  consequence.  "  For  in  that  he  him- 
self hath  suffered  being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succour 
them  that  are  tempted"  (Heb.  2  :  18).  He  can  "be 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,"  since  he 
hath  been  "in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet 
without  sin  "  (Heb.  4:15,  16). 

Similarly  there  is  a  gain  to  us,  not  in  encountering 
temptation,  but  in  triumphing  over  it  when  we  are 
called  to  meet  it  in  the  providence  of  God.  A  man 
grows  strong,  not  weak,  by  exercise.  His  character, 
like  his  muscle,  gains  power  through  effort  and  strug- 


Peril  and  Powe7'  TJiroitgh  Te7nptation    291 

gle.  Strength  and  beauty  show  themselves  in  the 
form  and  face  of  the  man  who  has  fought  and  con- 
quered, without  giving  way  through  weakness  to 
temptation,  as  they  cannot  appear  in  one  whose  God- 
given  and  God-kept  spiritual  faculties  have  never 
been  called  into  exercise  and  tested.  Manly  virtue 
is  more  than  childhood's  innocency,  as  God  sees  it, 
or  even  as  man  sees  it. 

We  are  not,  however,  even  in  view  of  this  truth,  to 
seek  temptation,  or  to  meet  it  unnecessarily.  When 
Jesus  was  asked  to  cast  himself  down  from  the  temple 
pinnacle  in  order  to  be  held  up  supernaturally,  he  de- 
clared that  we  must  not  put  God  to  a  test  just  in  order 
to  be  a  gainer  by  God's  help.  Temptations  come 
often  enough  to  us  at  the  best — as  many  as  we  need 
to  meet. 

It  was  after  Jesus  had  had  his  struggle  with  temp- 
tation that  he  taught  his  disciples  to  pray,  "  Lead  us 
not  into  temptation"  (Matt.  6:13;  Luke  11:4). 
That  clearly  enough  indicates  our  duty,  whether  we 
understand  the  reason  for  it  or  not.  Yet  we  are 
also  able  to  "count  it  all  joy  when"  we  "fall  into 
divers  temptations  "  (Jas.  1:2)  in  the  God-led  path, 
because  of  the  good  result  that  may  follow  our  resist- 
ing. There  is  no  contradiction  in  these  two  things. 
It  is  not  the  man  who  is  longing  for  a  fight  who  is 
bravest  in  a  fight.  The  bravest  man  shrinks  from  a 
battle,  unless  he  realizes  that  it  is  his  duty  to  go  into 
one.  Then,  indeed,  he  may  rejoice  that  he  can  do  good 
and  get  good  through  his  fighting  and  his  victory. 


!92  Shoes  a?id  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


God  is  more  interested  in  us  than  we  are  in  our- 
selves. God  understands  us  better  than  we  understand 
ourselves.  God  will  measure  our  strength  and  our 
temptations  if  we  will  follow  as  he  leads.  He  knows 
just  what  temptations  we  are  best  fitted  to  meet,  or 
are  to  be  the  greater  gainers  through  resisting.  Thus 
it  is  now ;  thus  it  ever  has  been  in  our  course. 
*'  There  hath  no  temptation  taken  you  [at  God's  call] 
but  such  as  is  common  to  man:  but  God  is  faithful, 
who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above  that  ye 
are  able  ;  but  [he]  will  with  the  temptation  also  make 
a  way  to  escape  [or  supply  the  means  and  power  of 
resistance],  that  ye  maybe  able  to  bear  it"  (i   Cor. 

lO  :  13). 

Many  a  tempted  believer  has  come  to  feel  the  truth 
of  this.  Out  of  my  own  experience  I  can  bear  testi- 
mony to  it.  At  one  time,  while  I  was  engaged  in  spe- 
cial religious  work,  I  found  myself  tried  and  tempted 
in  an  unusual  way.  I  could  not  account  for  it.  I 
had  often  been  before,  as  I  have  often  been  since, 
tempted  in  ways  that  I  could  account  for  only  too 
well ;  but  this  was  a  different  matter.  It  gave  me  un- 
rest and  perplexity  day  and  night ;  and  neither  prayer, 
nor  effort  at  calmness  of  mind  or  spirit,  seemed  to  be 
of  any  avail. 

At  last,  in  my  worry,  I  dropped  on  my  knees  before 
God,  and  cried  out  to  him  for  help.  I  told  him  that 
I  was  beine  drawn  aside  from  his  work  to  battle  with 
a  temptation  that  I  was  not  responsible  for,  and  which 
was  in  a  direction  where  I  had  no  inchnation  to  go 


Peril  and  Power  Through  Temptation    293 

astray.  I  said  that  it  forced  me  to  a  struggle  that 
seemed  unnecessary,  yet  was  very  real,  and  I  asked 
him  if  he  would  not  give  me  relief  from  the  struggle, 
so  that  I  could  be  wholly  in  his  work  which  so  pressed 
just  then. 

And  God's  answer  seemed  to  come  even  while  I 
prayed.  God  said — that  is,  God  impressed  upon  me 
the  truth — that  he  coidd  at  once  relieve  me  from  that 
struggle  with  that  temptation ;  but  which  would  I 
prefer,  present  relief  with  the  loss  of  the  added  charac- 
ter through  the  struggle,  or  a  continuance  of  the  strug- 
gle, and  of  his  grace  sustaining  me  in  it,  with  the  result 
of  more  manhood  as  a  consequence  ? 

Instantly  I  replied,  in  my  heart,  *'  Lord,  let  it  be  as 
thou  wilt.  Give  me  added  manhood,  even  if  I  have  to 
fight  temptation  all  the  time  in  order  to  get  it." 

As  I  then  rose  contented  from  my  knees,  I  found 
that  the  temptation  was  gone,  and  so  was  the  worry. 
It  maybe  that  it  had  already  done  its  work  for  me  for 
then — as  God  saw  my  case. 

God  will  give  us  gain  through  conquered  tempta- 
tions if  we  will  but  trust  him  utterly — as  we  have 
need  to.  And  this  brings  us  to  the  thought,  or  the 
truth,  of  our  hope  of  triumph  when  we  are  tempted. 

/J..  Victory  over  temptation  conies  through  a  sense  of 
zveakness. 

Even  Jesus,  after  his  victory  over  his  temptations 
in  the  wilderness,  said  with  reference  to  his  depend- 
ence, while   in   his  humanity,  on  his  Father  as  the 


294  Shoes  and  Rations  fo7^  a  Long  March 


source  of  all  strength,  '  I  can  of  myself  do  nothing" 
(John  5  :  30).  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  Paul  says  con- 
fidently in  his  dependence  on  that  same  source  of 
help,  "  I  can  do  all  things  [that  I  ought  to  do]  through 
Christ  which  strengtheneth  me"  (Phil.  4  :  13). 

Paul  learned  that  lesson  out  of  his  own  trying  ex- 
perience, as  he  tells  us.  When  he  prayed  for  more 
streng-th  of  his  own  for  God's  work,  God's  answer 
was,  "  My  grace  " — not  your  strength,  but  *'  my  grace 
is  sufficient  for  thee  :  for  my  strength  is  made  perfect 
[or  complete]  in  weakness"  (2  Cor.  12  19).  God  is 
readiest  to  help  that  child  of  his  who  feels  that  he  is  so 
weak  that  he  can  not  get  on  without  God,  not  the  one 
who  thinks  he  is  strong  enough  to  fight  through  alone. 

When  Paul  had  learned  this  lesson,  he  was  ready  to 
say,  **  Most  gladly  therefore  will  I  rather  glory  in  my 
infirmities,  that  the  power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon 
me.  .  .  .  For  when  I  am  weak,  then  am  I  strong  "  (2 
Cor.  12:9,  10).  Nor  was  Paul  the  only  child  of  God 
to  realize  this  truth.  It  was  thus  with  those  who 
went  before  him,  and  it  has  been  thus  with  those  who 
have  come  afiier  him.  "  Time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of 
Gideon,  and  of  Barak,  and  of  Samson,  and  of  Jeph- 
thah ;  of  David  also,  and  Samuel,  and  of  the  prophets  : 
who  through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  right- 
eousness, obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of 
lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge 
of  the  sword,  out  of  weakness  were  made  strong, 
waxed  valiant  in  fight,  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of 
the  aliens"  (Heb.  11  :  32-34). 


Peril  and  Power  ThrougJi  Temptation    295 

Feeling  a  sense  of  his  weakness  in  himself,  and 
resting  confidently  on  Him  who  is  mighty,  not  only 
to  save  but  to  uphold,  day  by  day,  the  child  of  God 
can  meet  every  temptation  which  he  encounters  in 
the  path  of  duty  in  ordinary  daily  life,  whether  it  be 
a  common  temptation  or  a  temptation  as  unlooked- 
for  as  it  is  severe.  He  may  have  resisted  the  tempta- 
tion many  times  before,  and  yet  have  to  fight  the  old 
fight  over  again.  He  may  never  have  met  it  until 
now,  and  therefore  be  surprised  that  it  conies  in  just 
this  shape  at  this  time.  In  either  case  his  strength  is 
found  in  his  sense  of  his  weakness,  for  when  he  is 
weak  then  is  he  strong.  God  will  give  him  victory 
through  faith. 

There  is  yet  another  case  which  makes  a  harder 
fight  than  either  of  these.  Temptation  is  sometimes 
fiercest  when  a  man  or  a  woman  has  already  given 
way  to  it  until  the  will  is  weak  to  resist  the  often  in- 
dulged propensity.  Yet  God  can  give  strength  to  one 
who  has  fallen  seven  times,  or  seventy  times  seven, 
and  that  soul  may  yet  have  victory,  if  it  will  but  turn 
again  and  cling  trustingly  to  the  arm  that  is  mighty 
to  save  in  even  that  emergency. 

Let  me  give  an  illustration  of  this  truth  that  was 
impressed  on  my  mind  most  forcefully,  as  I  heard  it 
told  by  John  B.  Gough  many  years  ago. 

Mr.  Gough  was,  on  one  occasion,  lecturing  to  the 
outcasts  of  Glasgow,  gathered  to  hear  him  by  the  city 
missionaries,  with  the  assurance  given  by  the  civil 
authorities  that  no  one  should  be  arrested  while  in 


296  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Lo?ig  March 

quiet  attendance  there  that  evening.  The  provost  of 
the  city  was  by  Mr.  Gough's  side  on  the  platform. 

The  roughest  and  vilest  of  the  city  were  there.  A 
woman,  popularly  known  as  "  Hell  Fire,"  was  among 
them.  The  city  provost  told  Mr.  Gough  that  she  had 
been  arrested  scores  of  times,  and  she  was  so  violent 
when  drunk  that  he  never  sent  one  policeman  alone 
to  arrest  her.  She  sat  before  the  lecturer  and  lis- 
tened to  his  words.  As  he  told  of  the  curse  of  rum, 
and  of  the  sufferings  of  the  drunkard,  she  cried  out, 
"  True,  mon.  It's  a'  true."  And  again,  "  How  d'  ye 
ken  it  a',  mon?  " 

When  an  opportunity  for  the  signing  of  the  pledge 
came,  and  Mr.  Gough  gave  the  invitation,  she  stepped 
forward  and  asked  to  sign.  A  bystander  said  that 
she'd  not  keep  a  pledge  until  midnight.  At  this  she 
squared  away  toward  him  for  a  fight.  Mr.  Gough 
appealed  to  her,  and  asked  if  she  could  keep  the 
pledge. 

"  If  I  say  I  wull,  I  con." 

"Will  you  say  you  will  ?" 

"  I  wull." 

"  Then  give  me  your  hand  on  it." 

She  took  Mr.  Gough's  hand,  and  then  signed  the 
pledge.  Mr.  Gough  said  to  her,  "  May  God  help  you 
to  keep  it,  my  good  woman."     And  he  left  her. 

'*  Two  years  after  that  evening  I  was  again  in  Glas- 
gow," said  Mr.  Gough,  **  and  I  saw  her  once  more, — 
no  longer  *  Hell  Fire,'  but  respected  '  Mrs.  Archer.' 
I  sat  down  at  the  tea-table  with  her  and  her  daughter 


Peril  and  Power  Through  Te77tptation    297 

in  their  humble  Scotch  home.  She  told  me  of  the 
struggles  she  had  had  in  her  purpose  of  keeping  the 
pledge  in  those  two  years,  and  of  her  triumphs  by  the 
help  of  God.  But  sometimes,  she  said,  she  would 
dream  in  the  night  that  she  was  drunk  as  of  old,  and 
then  she  would  get  up  and  go  down  on  her  knees  and 
cry  out  in  prayer,  *  God  keep  me  !  God  keep  me ! 
I  canna  get  drunk  ony  mair.' 

"  Her  daughter  added,  'Yes,  Mr.  Gough,  I'll  wake 
in  the  night,  and  I'll  hear  mither  cry,  on  her  knees, 
**  God  keep  me.  God  keep  me.  I  canna  get  drunk 
ony  mair;  "  and  I'll  call  to  her,  "  Come  back  to  bed, 
mither.  You'll  take  your  death  o'  could."  And  she'll 
say  to  me,  "  No,  no,  I've  been  drameing  I  was  drunk 
again,  and  I'm  praying  and  crying,  'God  keep  me! 
God  keep  me!     I  canna  get  drunk  ony  mair.'" ' 

"  Ah  ! "  said  Mr.  Gough,  "  it  was  not  the  pledge 
that  had  kept  her,  but  it  was  her  faith  that  sounded 
out  in  the  cry  of  her  heart  continually,  '  God  keep 
me!  God  keep  me!     I  canna  get  drunk  ony  mair.'" 

And  this  is  the  hope  of  the  tempted  soul,  whether 
he  be  one  who  has  grown  stronger  by  long  resistance, 
or  one  who  has  been  weakened  by  frequent  yielding. 
He  is  truly  strong  only  when  he  is  consciously  weak. 

Here  also  is  our  best  lesson  from  the  recorded  fact 
in  our  text.  "  Then  was  Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit 
into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil;"  "For 
in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered  being  tempted,  he  is 
able  to  succour  them  that  are  tempted  "  (Heb.  2  :  18). 


VICTORIOUS  IN  DEATH  AND  IN  LIFE 


xm 

VICTORIOUS  IN  DEATH  AND  IN  LIFE 

In  all  active  service  in  human  warfare,  victory  is 
the  chief  thing  struggled  for.  It  is  victory  that  is  de- 
sired, it  is  victory  that  is  hoped  for,  it  is  victory  that 
is  to  be  rejoiced  in.  There  may  be,  indeed,  an  ulti- 
mate good  that  is  to  be  attained  through  a  long  war, 
in  which  battle  after  battle  is  fought  at  terrible  cost  of 
life  and  limb,  and  at  a  fearful  outlay  by  the  powers 
engaged ;  but  this  can  come  only  as  a  result  of 
victory.  Therefore,  to  the  soldiers  in  active  warfare 
it  is  victory  that  has  the  first  thought  and  place  in  all 
their  doing  and  their  enduring. 

And  veteran  soldiers  in  our  Civil  War  learned  that 
those  who  lived  through  a  battle  had  more  yet  to  do 
and  to  endure  than  those  who  fell  in  that  fight.  One 
who  lived  worthily  and  who  fell  at  his  post,  dying  as 
he  had  lived,  was  a  victor  beyond  the  necessity  of 
another  struggle.  But  a  soldier  who  lived  through 
one  battle  in  that  long  war  had  to  realize  that  he  must 
be  ready  to  meet  other  dangers,  from  which  his  fallen 
comrades  were  spared.  Hence  a  lesson  of  a  veteran 
soldier's  experience  was  that  living  is,  on  this  account, 
more  to  be  dreaded  than  dying.      Many  a  soldier  at 

301 


302  SJioes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


the  close  of  a  battle,  in  that  sadly  prolonged  war,  felt 
in  his  weakness  and  exhaustion  that  his  fallen  com- 
rades were  happily  spared  the  renewed  fights  which  he 
must  enter.  Yet  as  a  true  soldier  he  realized  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  brave  living  with  its  penalties  and 
ever-renewed  outlays,  as  well  as  dying  with  its  final 
victory.  And  this  conviction  was  the  truest  test  and 
climax  of  the  right-minded  soldier. 

In  home  life,  as  in  army  service,  I  found  occasion 
to  consider  this  truth  and  to  emphasize  it  before  my 
fellows.  Hence  there  grew  this  sermon  as  to  our 
Saviour's  assurance  that  those  living  in  him  shall  have 
victory  in  living  and  in  dying. 


NEITHER  DEATH  NOR  LIFE 

"  For  I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death,  nor  life, 
7ior  ajigels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  thi?tgs 
present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor 
any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  God,  zvhich  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord''  (Rom. 
8  :  38,  39)- 

"I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death,  nor  life  "  — 
"  neither  death,  nor  life  "  !  Death  stands  over  against 
life  in  ceaseless  hostility,  here  in  a  world  where  all 
who  are  not  mourning  their  dead  are  themselves 
struggling  to  live. 

In  the  ancient  Roman  theaters,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  gladiatorial  games,  the  contestants,  who  had  en- 
tered the  arena  for  its  life-and-death  struggles,  were 
accustomed  to  pass  in  review  before  the  seat  of  the 
Imperial  "  Editor,"  or  Exhibitor,  of  the  games,  and, 
while  still  in  the  flush  of  strength  and  of  bounding 
life,  to  say,  in  conscious  recognition  of  their  impend- 
ing doom,  '' Morituri  salutamus !''  "We  who  are 
about  to  die,  salute  you  !"  And  this  grim  salutation 
of  the  battle-arrayed  gladiators  might  well  be  that  of 
all  of  us,  whenever  we  leave  our  homes  of  a  morning, 
or  return   to  our  loved  ones  of  an  evening ;  or  when 

303 


304  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

we  part  with  those  who  are  dear  to  us,  for  even  the 
briefest  vacation,  or  other  absence  ;  and  so  when  they 
and  we  are  come  together  again  in  gladness  :  ''  Mori- 
tun  sahitavius !''  "We  who  are  about  to  die,  sahite 
you  !  " 

Already  we  are  within  the  arena  of  conflict ;  we 
are  moving  steadily  toward  the  climax  of  the  strug- 
gle ;  and,  in  more  than  a  poetic  sense,  our  pulsing 
heart-throbs  are  the  muffled  drum-beats  of  the  funeral 
march. 

You  and  I  are  facing  death,  here  in  this  house  this 
morning, — you  in  your  place,  and  I  in  mine  ;  and 
there  is  reason  why,  in  the  strictest  literalism,  I  should 
now  preach  to  you 

"  As  never  sure  to  preach  again, 
And  as  a  dying  man,  to  dying  men,"  ^ 

It  is  old  Flavel,  I  think,  who  has  corrected  so  force- 
fully the  common  thought  of  our  nearness  to  death. 
We  speak  of  death,  he  says,  as  a  precipice,  toward 
whose  brink  we  are  moving  blindly.  That  brink  may 
be  just  before  us,  or  it  may  be  still  at  a  distance. 
When  we  reach  it,  one  step  is  our  last.  TJiat  is  our 
thought.  But,  no,  he  adds,  death  is  not  a  precipice 
between  which  and  ourselves  there  is  a  possible, 
though  an  uncertain  distance  ;  death  is  a  precipice 
along  the  edge  of  which  we  have  been  moving,  in 
blindness,  from  our  very  birth.  At  this  moment,  as 
always,  there  is  but  a  step  between  us  and  death  (i 
Sam.  20  :  3). 

1  Richard  Baxter. 


Victorious  in  Death  and  in  Life        305 

And  death,  thus  ever-proximate,  is  always  and  only 
our  enemy.  Death  is  not,  can  not  be,  a  friend.  We 
may  defy  death.  We  may  even  come  to  long  for  or 
to  welcome  death.  We  may  be  sure  of  triumph  over 
death.  But  neither  our  courage,  our  craving,  nor  our 
confidence,  can  change  the  hostile  attitude  of  death. 
''The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  ['abolished,' 
the  Revision  renders  it,]  is  death"  (i  Cor.  15  :  26); 
the  last  enemy  that  shall  be  abolished,  but  that  remains 
as  an  enemy  yet  awhile.  That  is  the  way  the  Bible 
states  it ;  and  that  is  the  way  we  are  very  likely  to 
view  it — in  our  testing-times. 

When  we  look  into  the  faces  of  our  dead  dear 
ones,  and  when  we  stand  above  their  sodded  graves, 
we  say,  instinctively,  "An  enemy  hath  done  this" 
(Matt.  13  :  28).  Even  the  certainty  of  their  joy  im- 
mortal can  not  make  their  absence  our  mortal  joy. 

"  Immortal  ?     I  feel  it,  and  know  it ; 
Who  doubts  it  of  such  as  she  ? 
But  that  is  the  pang's  very  secret, — 
Immortal  away  from  me. 

"  There's  a  narrow  ridge  in  the  graveyard, 
Would  scarce  stay  a  child  in  his  race  ; 
But  to  me  and  my  thought  it  is  wider 
Than  the  star-sown  vague  of  space. 

"  Your  logic,  my  friend,  is  perfect, 
Your  morals  most  drearily  true : 
But  since  the  earth  fell  on  her  coffin, 
I  keep  hearing  that,  and  not  you. 


3o6  Shoes  and  Ratio7is  for  a  Long  March 

"  Console  if  you  will,  I  can  bear  it : 
'Tis  a  well-meant  alms  of  breath  : 
But  not  all  the  preaching  since  Adam 
Has  made  death  other  than  death."  ^ 

But  it  is  deatJiy — this  death  which  can  not  seem 
"  other  than  death;"  this  death  which  confronts  us 
all  and  always  as  our  enemy, — this  death  it  is  against 
which  the  faith-inspired  Apostle  rings  out,  jubilantly, 
in  his  confident  climax  of  defiance  :  "  I  am  persuaded, 
that  neither  death,  nor  life,  .  .  .  nor  any  other  creature 
[any  other  created  thing],  shall  be  able  to  separate  us 
from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord." 

There  are  some  things  which  death  can  not  do, 
even  at  its  worst  Death  can  not  separate  either  the 
dead  believer  or  the  living  believer  from  his  Saviour. 
Jesus  came  into  this  world  of  the  dying,  and  passed 
out  from  it  through  the  gates  of  death  into  the  world 
of  the  undying.  He  knows  what  it  is  to  sorrow  over 
the  work  of  death,  to  shrink  from  death,  and  to  suffer 
death.  He  is  familiar  with  the  weakness  and  with  the 
needs  of  his  loved  ones  here,  who  are  appointed  to 
die.  He  feels  with  them  tenderly,  and  his  presence 
and  help  are  assured  to  them  unto  the  end.  "  Let 
not  your  heart  be  troubled,"  he  says.  "  In  my 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions.  ...  I  go 
[on  before  you]  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.  .  .  . 
And  .  .  .  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also"   (John 

14  :   1-3). 

1  James  Russell  Lowell. 


Victorious  271  Death  and  in  Life         307 


However  and  wherever  the  chasm  of  death  is  to  be 
crossed  by  a  behever,  Jesus,  from  beyond  it,  will  give 
help  and  cheer  to  his  follower,  on  this  side  of  it  and 
in  its  crossing.  And  the  overleaping  of  that  chasm 
will  not  separate  the  Guide  and  his  follower,  but  will 
only  unite  them  the  more  closely,  and  forever. 

While  climbing  the  upper  summits  of  the  moun- 
tains of  Sinai,  I  was  led  by  an  Arab  guide  who  was 
familiar  with  every  step  of  the  perilous  way.  Finally 
we  came  to  the  edge  of  a  threatening  precipice  of 
granite,  which  sloped  away  from  our  very  feet  far 
down  to  a  yawning  ravine  of  jagged  rocks  below. 
Closer  and  closer  to  that  dizzy  edge  lay  our  narrow 
path,  until  the  path  actually  lost  itself,  at  a  point 
where  a  jutting  crag  before  us  seemed  to  forbid  all 
passage,  unless  directly  over  the  mad  precipice  itself 
And  there  my  guide  disappeared,  for  the  moment. 
He  had  swung  himself  around  that  crag,  over  that 
bewildering  cliff,  and  was  now  at  the  base  of  a 
mountain  dome,  above  and  beyond  the  path  he 
had  left. 

As  I  stood  for  a  moment,  with  whirling  brain,  at 
that  appalling  brink  of  death,  I  saw,  just  above  and 
before  me,  the  wiry  feet  of  my  trusty  guide  beyond 
that  jutting  crag  ;  and  I  heard  his  voice  calling  out 
cheerily  :  '*  Cling  to  my  feet,  and  swing  yourself  over 
the  pass  !     I  can  hold  you  !     Have  no  fear  !  " 

It  was  not  a  tempting  thing  to  do.  But  it  was  that 
or  nothing.  I  caught  at  those  sturdy  ankles  with  a 
grip  as  for  my  life!     A   moment's  stay  of  breath! 


3o8  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

One  spring  along  the  frightful  edge !  The  crag  and 
the  chasm  were  passed,  and  I  and  my  guide  were  to- 
gether on  the  unchanging  rock — where  the  crown  of 
that  mountain  of  God  was  ours. 

So  with  us  all,  as  we  clamber  the  steeps  of  earth, 
under  the  guidance  of  him  who  has  passed  every  step 
of  the  way  before.  When  at  last  our  narrow  path 
is  skirting  the  brink  of  the  yawning  grave,  and  the 
forbidding  crag  of  death  juts  before  us,  and  we  realize, 
for  the  moment,  that  our  Guide  has  gone  over  be- 
yond that  crag, — even  then  we  can  hear  the  voice 
of  Jesus,  calling  to  us  cheerily,  '*  Come  unto  me  ! 
I  will  uphold  thee!"     And,   clinging  with  the   grip 

of  faith  to 

"  Those  blessed  feet 
Which  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  were  nail'd 
For  our  advantage  on  the  bitter  cross,"  ^ 

We  can,  with  one  instant's  bated  breath,  and  with  a 
single  swing  of  soul,  pass  beyond  death,  to  stand  with 
our  Guide  on  the  enduring  rock  of  the  eternal  hills 
of  God. 

If,  indeed,  for  a  moment,  at  such  a  crisis,  we  are 
**  in  a  strait  betwixt  two,"  whether  to  stay  or  to  go, 
faith  tells  us  surely,  that  "  to  depart,  and  to  be  with 
Christ,"  is  very  ''far  better"  (Phil,  i  :  23).  There- 
fore it  is  that  "  Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is 
the  death  of  his  saints"  (Psa.  116  :  15).  Therefore  it 
is  that  the  believer  can  cry  triumphantly,  in  the  face 
of  death  as  his  enemy,  ''  I  am  persuaded,  that  neither 

1  Shakespeare. 


Victoriotcs  in  Death  and  in  Life         309 

death,  nor  life,  .  .  .  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be 
able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

It  is,  indeed,  that  very  love  of  God,  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  that  permits  the  dying  of  any 
of  Christ's  dear  ones.  Herodotus  tells,  from  Solon, 
a  touching  story  of  Biton  and  Cleobis,  two  noble 
young  sons  of  a  priestess  of  Juno.  They  were  cele- 
brated for  their  devoted  affection  to  their  mother. 
On  a  great  feast-day  of  Juno,  they  insisted  on  draw- 
ing their  mother  in  her  chariot  to  the  temple,  a  dis- 
tance of  six  miles  or  so.  The  populace  applauded 
their  filial  affection.  The  mother  was  gratefully  proud 
of  their  loving  devotedness. 

Taking  those  sons  with  her  into  the  temple  where 
she  ministered,  that  mother  prayed  for  them  to  the 
goddess  whom  she  served.  Not  wealth,  nor  honors, 
nor  long  life,  she  asked  for  them,  specifically,  but  her 
prayer  was  that  the  goddess  would  grant  to  them 
just  that  which  the  goddess  should  know  to  be  the 
best  of  all  gifts  for  sons  so  worthy.  Having  thus 
prayed,  the  mother  fell  calmly  asleep,  with  her  sons 
near  her,  within  the  temple  precincts. 

When  the  morning  came,  those  two  sons  were  dead. 
The  mother's  prayer  for  them  had  been  answered. 
The  best  gift  of  the  goddess  was  theirs. 

Are  not  the  love  and  the  wisdom  of  our  God  as 
real  and  as  great  as  are  those  of  the  Pagan  goddess  ? 
Aye !  "I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying,  .  .  . 
Write,  Blessed  are  the  dead  which   die  in   the   Lord 


-1 


I  o  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Lo7ig  MarcJi 


from  henceforth :  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may 
rest  from  their  labours  ;  and  their  works  do  follow 
them  "  (Rev.  14:  13). 

Nor  does  the  death  of  one's  dear  ones — any  more 
than  the  death  of  one's  self — separate  the  believer 
from  his  Saviour,  or  lessen  his  sense  of  that  Saviour's 
loving  nearness.  On  the  contrary,  eveiy  fatal  blow 
of  the  enemy  of  life  attaches  with  a  new  link  the  sur- 
vivors in  the  conflict  to  the  commander  in  whose 
service  is  the  fighting  and  the  falling. 

Look  at  that  familiar  picture  of  the  veterans  of 
Waterloo  gathered  for  the  last  time  in  their  annual 
reunion  with  the  Iron  Duke.  Is  there  a  barrier,  or  is 
there  a  bond  of  union,  between  those  war-worn  cap- 
tains and  their  great  commander,  in  the  fact  that  at 
his  call  they  and  he  faced  death  together  on  a  field 
where  those  whom  they  loved  were  stricken  down  in 
his  loyal  service  ? 

Ah !  my  friends,  I  tell  you  there  is  no  such  loving 
devotedness  of  soldiers  toward  any  commander  who 
has  been  over  them  only  in  the  days  of  peace,  or  at 
times  of  parade,  as  toward  one  who  has  led  them 
in  a  score  of  hard-fought  battles — out  of  which 
they  have  come  alive,  but  bronzed  and  scarred 
for  life. 

Aye !  and  there  is  no  such  bond  of  human  com- 
radeship as  that  which  joins  in  heart-fellowship  those 
who  have  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  the  shock  of 
batde,  and  who  have  wept  together  over  those  who 
there  fell  from  their  sides. 


Victoiaous  in  Death  aiid  in  Life 


311 


"  Ho  !  comrades  of  the  camp  and  field, 
What  though  the  world  be  wide  ! 
The  hands  that  met  above  the  dead, 
Earth  never  can  divide."  ^ 

So,  likewise,  there  is  added  love  for  Christ,  in  the 
believer's  heart,  through  each  glimpse  of  Christ  in  the 
hour  of  a  dear  one's  death-struggle  ;  and  there  is  a 
closer  bond  of  Christian  fellowship  between  those  who 
have  mourned  their  dead  together. 

He  who  would  enter  the  innermost  chambers  of 
Christ's  ministering  love,  must  pass  through  the  death- 
room  of  those  who  are  dearer  than  life  to  him.  Only 
thus  can  he  realize  the  fulness  of  the  beatitude  : 
''  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn  :  for  they  shall  be  com- 
forted "  (Matt.  5  :  4).  Only  thus  can  he  be  able  to 
say,  out  of  his  sanctified  experience,  "  Blessed  be  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father 
of  mercies  and  God  of  all  comfort ;  who  comforteth 
us  in  all  our  affliction,  that  we  may  be  able  to  com- 
fort them  that  are  in  any  affliction,  through  the  com- 
fort wherewith  we  ourselves  are  comforted  of  God  " 
(2  Cor.  I  :  3,  4). 

''  Even  here 
From  his  dear  children's  eyes,  God  wipes  the  tear ; 
And  who  would  mourn  a  tear  should  fill  his  eye 

For  God  to  dry  ? 
Angels  might  envy  man  his  tearful  eyes 

When  God's  hand  dries."  ^ 

Heaven   is  nearer  to  those  whose  dear  ones    are 

1  M.  A.  Lathbury.  2  a.  E.  Hamilton. 


3 1 2   SJioes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


already  there,  and  Christ  is  dearer  to  those  whose 
best  loved  ones  have  entered  into  his  rest. 

Aye  !  and  those  who  for  the  first  time  mourn  their 
own  dead,  are,  by  that  very  experience,  brought  into 
a  holy  fellowship  of  Christian  sorrow  and  Christian 
sympathy  and  Christian  comfort,  the  benefits  of  which 
no  unbereaved  soul  is  privileged  to  share. 

No  !  No  !  Whatever  else  is  the  power  of  death  as 
an  enemy,  "I  am  persuaded,  that"  not  ''death,  .  .  . 
shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God, 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

"  Neither  death,  nor ///t' "  !  Mark  that!  Death 
first,  and  then  life,  in  the  ascending  order  of  dangers 
which  confront  the  Christian  believer.  Nor  is  this  an 
anti-climax  in  the  plan  of  the  inspired  Apostle,  for 
death  is  ever  a  lesser  danger  than  life,  in  the  experi- 
ence of  the  disciple  of  Jesus. 

Dying  is  but  a  minor  matter,  at  the  worst.  A  mo- 
ment, and  all  is  over.  Its  one  struggle  is  the  last. 
But  to  live  on,  with  a  new  struggle  eveiy  day,  and  with 
no  end  to   the   fighting,  is  a  very  different  matter,  at 

the  best. 

"  Blessed  are  those  who  die  for  God, 

And  earn  the  martyr's  crown  of  light; 
Yet  he  who  Hves  for  God  may  be 
A  greater  conqueror  in  his  sight."* 

While  I  was  a  prisoner  of  war  in  South  Carolina,  I 
met  a  brave   and   determined   Southern  officer,  who 

1  A.  A.  Proctor. 


Victorious  in  Death  and  in  Life         3 1 3 


spoke   in  intensest  earnestness  of  the   inflexible  pur- 
pose of  his  people  to  resist  all  efforts  at  their  subju- 
gation.    When  the  war  was  over,  I  was  again  in  South 
Carolina,  and  I  met  the  same  officer  once  more. 
Greeting  me  pleasantly  at  this  time,  he  said  : 
"  I  little  thought,  when  we   met  last,  that  the  war 
would  end    as   it   did.       But  we  were  ready  for   the 
end    long    before    it   came  !       It    was    your    General 
Grant  who  wore   us  out.      We   could   stand   anything 
but   his   eternal    pound,   pound,   pound.      We  would 
gladly  have  gone  into  one  great  battle,  or  another,  to 
fight    the    thing    out.      But    he    just    pounded    right 
straight  along,  with  no  let-up.      If  we  whipped  him 
one  day,  he  was  at  it  just  the  same  the  next  morning. 
A  victory  didn't  seem   to   help   us   any  more   than  a 
defeat.      It  was  just   fight,    fight,  fight,    every  day  of 
the  year,  no  matter  what  came  of  the  fighting.      We 
couldn't  stand  tJiat,  and  so  w^e  longed  for  the  end  to 


come." 


And  that  is  the  sort  of  fighting  which  wears  out 
the  best  and  the  bravest  soldiers,  in  any  line  of  war- 
fare ;  or  which  taxes  their  courage  most  sorely,  if  it 
does  not  wear  them  out.  It  is  not  the  one  death- 
struggle,  but  the  ceaseless  life-struggles,  that  the 
stoutest  heart  shrinks  from. 

It  is  the  meeting  the  same  temptations  over  and 
over  again.  It  is  the  finding  one's  self  weak  at  one's 
strongest  point,  and  again  the  being  assailed  unex- 
pectedly just  where  one  is  weakest.  It  is  the  failing 
to   find   any  perceptible  gain  through  a  score  of  vie- 


3 1 4  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

tories  over  a  foe  which  comes  up  only  the  more  vig- 
orous after  every  fresh  defeat.  It  is  the  seeing  that 
those  who  are  stronger  than  one's  self  are  over- 
borne in  the  fiftieth  contest,  when  they  had  fought 
through  forty-nine  similar  fights  without  a  failure.  It 
is  the  strangeness  of  God's  way  of  letting  those  who 
love  him  battle  on  without  a  conclusive  triumph  in 
any  one  contest — once  for  all.  It  is  the  ceaseless 
mystery  of  the  life  that  is,  with  so  much  power  per- 
mitted to  evil,  and  such  seeming  advantages  for  the 
time  to  the  adversaries  of  Christ  and  of  Christ's  dear 
ones. 

It  was  one  of  the  sweetest-spirited  of  Christian  sing- 
ers who  said,  wearily  : 

"  Oh,  it  is  hard  to  work  for  God, 
To  rise  and  take  his  part 
Upon  this  battle-field  of  earth, 
And  not  sometimes  lose  heart ! 

"  He  hides  himself  so  wondrously. 
As  though  there  were  no  God  ; 
He  is  least  seen  when  all  the  powers 
Of  ill  are  most  abroad ; 

"  Or  he  deserts  us  in  che  hour 
The  fight  is  all  but  lost ; 
And  seems  to  leave  us  to  ourselves 
Just  when  we  need  him  most. 

"Oh,  there  is  less  to  try  our  faith 
In  our  mysterious  creed 
Than  in  the  godless  look  of  earth 
In  these  our  hours  of  need."  * 

1 F.  V^.  Faber. 


Victorious  in  Death  and  in  Life        315 

Do  you  question  the  courage,  or  the  character  of 
behevers  who  yield  to  feehngs  of  this  sort,  at  any 
point  in  their  hfe-struggle  ?  Some  pretty  strong  men 
in  the  world's  history,  some  stalwart  sons  of  God, 
have  felt  that  way,  whether  you  and  I  have  always 
been  above  such  weakness  or  not. 

It  was  none  other  than  Moses, — Moses,  the  meek 
and  majestic  man  of  God, — who,  after  seeing  all  the 
miracles  of  Jehovah  in  Egypt,  at  the  Red  Sea,  in  the 
desert,  and  at  Mount  Sinai,  and  after  actually  com- 
muning with  God  ''face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh 
unto  his  friend  "  (Exod.  33  :  11),  was  so  weary  of  his 
prolonged  conflict  with  evil,  that  he  was  tempted  to 
give  up  both  his  struggle  and  his  charge,  and  his  tired 
moan  to  God  for  death  was,  "  I  am  not  able  to  bear 
all  this  people  alone,  because  it  is  too  heavy  for  me. 
And  if  thou  deal  thus  with  me,  kill  me,  I  pray  thee, 
out  of  hand  [off-hand,  outright],  if  I  have  found  favour 
in  thy  sight  ;  and  let  me  not  see  [no  longer  see]  my 
wretchedness"  (Num.  11  :  14,  15). 

It  was  the  even-minded  patriarch,  Job, — Job, 
whom  God  himself  pointed  out  as  foremost  among 
the  sons  of  men  for  uprightness  and  for  fidelity, — 
who,  having  bowed  himself  in  loving  submissiveness 
under  stroke  after  stroke  of  bitter  calamity,  wilted  at 
last,  under  the  continuing  pressure  upon  him,  and 
longed  for  the  end  to  come.  ''  Oh  that  I  might  have 
my  request,"  he  cried  ;  *'  and  that  God  would  grant 
me  the  thing  that  I  long  for  !  Even  that  it  would 
please  God  to  destroy  me  ;  that  he  would  let  loose 


^ 


1 6  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Lo7ig  March 


his  hand,  and  cut  me  off!  Then  should  I  yet  have 
comfort"  (Job  6  :  8-10)  in  death,  if  not  in  hfe. 

It  was  heroic  Elijah,  the  rugged  old  prophet  of 
Israel,  who — after  receiving  proof  that  God  was  ready 
to  open  or  to  close  the  heavens,  or  even  to  raise  the 
dead  to  life,  at  his  cry  for  help  ;  and  after  triumphing 
gloriously  in  his  single-handed  defiance  of  the  four 
hundred  and  fifty  prophets  of  Baal — was  too  weak 
to  bear  up  without  wincing  under  the  ceaseless 
"pound,  pound,  pound,"  of  his  persistent  opposers  ; 
and  who,  hurrying  into  the  wilderness,  threw  himself 
despondently  under  the  scanty  shade  of  a  retem  bush, 
**  and  he  requested  for  himself  that  he  might  die  ;  and 
[he]  said,  It  is  enough  [it  is  too  much]  ;  now,  O  Lord, 
take  away  my  life  ;  for  I  am  not  better  than  my  fathers 
[I  make  no  gain  in  living  on]  "   (i  Kings  19:4). 

It  was  that  most  courageous  of  all  the  God-called 
and  faith-filled  followers  of  Christ,  Paul  the  Apostle, 
who,  after  enduring  unflinchingly  **  in  journeyings 
often,  in  perils  of  rivers,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils 
from"  his  *' countrymen  [the  Jews],  in  perils  from  the 
Gentiles,  in  perils  in  the  cit}^,  in  perils  in  the  wilder- 
ness, in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils  among  false  breth- 
ren ;  in  labour  and  travail,  in  watchings  often,  in 
hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in  cold  and  na- 
kedness"  (2  Cor.  1 1  :  26,  27),  and  who,  being  still 
kept  at  the  tireless  task  of  battling  his  own  body 
daily,  lest  after  all  his  trials  and  triumphs  he  should 
yet  become  "  a  castaway"  (i  Cor.  9  :  27)  ;  he  it  was 
who  cried  out,  in  all  earnestness,  that  "to  depart,  and 


VictoiHoics  in  Death  and  in  Life         3 1 7 


to  be  with  Christ  "  would  be  "  far  better  "  (Phil.  1:23) 
than  to  hve   on  "at  this  poor  dying  rate;"   and  who 
was  sure  that  for  himself,  whatever  it  was  "  to  live," 
**  to  die  "  would  be  a  "  gain  "  (Phil,   i  :  21). 

Aye !  and  many  another  believer,  since  the  days  of 
this  apostle,  has  realized  how  much  harder  it  is  to  live 
than  it  would  be  to  die  ;  how  much  greater  are  the  dan- 
gers of  living  than  of  dying — to  one  who  is  ready  to  die. 

Unless,  indeed,  you  and  I  have  more  sublime  pa- 
tience than  Job,  more  sanctified  meekness  than  Moses, 
more  stalwart  courage  than  Elijah,  more  holy  zeal  and 
faith  than  Paul,  we  also  are  liable  to  similar  weari- 
ness and  shrinkings,  in  our  life-struggle, — unless,  per- 
chance, it  be  the  case  that  our  lack  of  strength  of 
character  forbids  to  us  the  possibilities  of  such 
strength,  in  either  direction — of  action,  or  of  reaction. 

A  while  ago  I  sat  by  the  dying  bedside  of  a  dear  girl 
in  my  Philadelphia  home.  As  I  held  her  hand,  which, 
all  unconsciously  to  herself,  the  damp  of  death  was 
already  chilling,  she  said  to  me  with  soulful  earnest- 
ness :  "  Dr.  Trumbull,  Pm  not  one  bit  afraid  to  die. 
I  know  that  Jesus  is  my  Saviour,  and  if  I  should  die 
now,  he  would  take  me  right  to  himself.  But  Pm 
expecting  to  get  well,  and  that's  what  troubles  me. 
When  Pm  up  again,  will  Jesus  give  me  strength  to 
live  all  the  time  as  I  ought  to  live  ?  " 

And  I  tell  you,  my  friends,  those  words  did  not 
show  spiritual  weakness  on  the  part  of  that  dear  young 
disciple.  On  the  contrary,  they  showed  her  spiritual 
discernment.     As  she  lay  there,  between  living  and 


3 1 8  SJioes  and  Ratio7is  for  a  Long  March 


dying,  she  realized  that  to  die  was  a  lesser  danger 
than  to  live  ;  that  the  one  death-struggle  was  a  small 
thing  in  comparison  with  a  long  series  of  life-strug- 
gles. And  in  this  she  was  at  one  with  Paul,  and  Elijah, 
and  Job,  and  Moses,  and  many  another  child  of  God, 
in  the  olden  time  and  in  the  later  ;  for  to  them  and  to 
her,  and  to  every  spiritually  illumined  soul,  death  has 
fewer  dangers  than  life  to  the  believer  in  Jesus,  be- 
cause here,  in  the  life  that  now  is,  our  wrestling  is 
"not  [alone]  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against 
principalities,  against  powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the 
darkness  of  this  world,  against  spiritual  wickedness  in 
high  places  "  (Eph.  6  :  12). 

But  life  also — life  with  all  its  perils — has  its  limita- 
tions of  power  for  harm  to  him  who  is  joined  by 
faith  with  that  Saviour  whose  loving  power  is  limit- 
less. It  is  to  life,  as  well  as  to  death,  that  Paul  bids 
defiance  in  the  triumphant  ascription  of  our  text:  "I 
am  persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor  life," — neither 
death  the  lesser  peril,  nor  life  the  larger;  neither 
death  with  its  single  danger,  nor  life  with  its  dangers 
upon  dangers, — ''  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels, 
nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor 
things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other 
creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of 
God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

There  are  ten  Bible  promises  to  the  living  where 
there  is  one  Bible  promise  to  the  dying  ;  ten  prom- 
ises for  the  life  that  is,  where  there  is  one  promise  for 
the  life  to  come  ;  ten  promises  of  strength  in  the  bat- 


Victorious  in  Death  and  in  Life         319 

tie  of  life  to  one  promise  of  joy  after  life's  battle  is 
over.  If,  therefore,  life's  struggles  are  harder  than 
the  struggle  of  death,  the  promises  of  help  in  the 
struggles  of  life  are  correspondingly  more  prominent 
in  the  Word  of  God. 

Aye  !  there  is  never  a  peril  to  the  Christian  believer 
in  his  life-course,  over  against  which  there  does  not 
stand  a  divine  token  of  assurance  and  cheer  to  the 
imperiled  one. 

"Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ? 
shall  tribulation,  or  anguish,  or  persecution,  or  famine, 
or  nakedness,  or  peril,  or  sword  ?  .  .  .  Nay,  in  all 
these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerors  through 
him  that  loved  us"  (Rom.  8  :  35-37). 

You  say  that  you  are  spiritually  weak,  that  you  lack 
strength  for  life's  battlings.  Christ's  cheering  assur- 
ance comes  to  you  :  *'  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee  : 
for  my  power  is  made  perfect  in  weakness  "  (2  Cor. 
12  :  9) — my  power  is  shown  at  its  fulness  in  disciples 
who  are  so  weak  as  to  feel  helpless  without  me. 

You  say  that  temptations  press  you  on  every  side, 
and  you  are  afraid  they  will  overbear  you  at  some 
point.  **  There  hath  no  temptation  taken  you  but  such 
as  man  can  bear  :  but  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suf- 
fer you  to  be  tempted  above  that  ye  are  able  ;  but  will 
with  the  temptation  make  also  the  way  of  escape,  that 
ye  may  be  able  to  endure  it"  (i  Cor.  10  :  13). 

You  say  that  it  is  not  so  much  the  greatness  of  any 
one  temptation,  as  the  incessant  pressure  of  repeated 
temptations.     You  are  growing  tired  and  faint  under 


320  Shoes  and  Rations  foT-  a  Long  March 

the  ceaseless  *'  pound,  pound,  pound,"  on  your  over- 
taxed forces.  **  He  giveth  power  to  the  faint ;  and  to 
them  that  have  no  might  he  increaseth  strength  " 
(Isa.  40 :  29). 

You  say  that  you  can  stand  it  yet  awhile,  with  the 
strength  that  is  now  given  you  ;  but  you  shrink  from 
the  possibilities  of  the  future,  if  the  coming  years  are 
to  bring  no  let-up  to  the  strain  upon  you.  Hear 
God's  loving  response  to  this  mistrusting:  "Even  to 
old  age  I  am  he,  and  even  to  hoar  hairs  will  I  carry 
you  :  I  have  made,  and  I  will  bear  ;  yea,  I  will  carry, 
and  will  deliver"  (Isa.  46:  4). 

You  say  that  even  though  you  are  kept  up  in  your 
life-battlings,  you  lack  that  fellow-help,  and  that  per- 
sonal sympathy,  which  you  used  to  think  you  could 
depend  on  ;  for  so  many  a  trusted  one  has  changed, 
or  has  failed  you,  while  those  from  whom  you  hoped 
most  have  disappointed  you, — that  you  now  seem 
really  alone  in  your  strugglings.  His  answer  comes 
tenderly  :  **  I  the  Lord  change  not "  (Mai.  3:6).  *' As 
one  whom  his  mother  comforteth,  so  will  I  comfort 
you"  (Isa.  66:  13).  "I  will  not  fail  thee,  nor  for- 
sake thee  "  (Josh.  1:5). 

Who  can  despair,  in  the  face  of  such  promises  ? 

After  all,  the  believer's  life-course  is  only  one  step 
at  a  time,  and  every  step  onward  is  also  a  step  up- 
ward ;  for 

"  The  road  winds  up  hill  all  the  way, 
Yes,  to  the  very  end."  ^ 

*  Christine  G.  Rossetti. 


Victorious  in  DeatJi  and  in  Life         321 

At  the  severest,  the  believer's  endurance  is  only 
minute  by  minute,  and  every  improved  minute  is  an 
attainment  for  eternity. 

"  Do  not  look  at  life's  long  sorrow  ; 
See  how  small  each  moment's  pain. 
God  will  help  thee  for  to-morrow : 
So,  each  day  begin  again. 

"  Every  hour  that  fleets  so  slowly 
Has  its  task  to  do  or  bear. 
Luminous  the  crown,  and  holy, 
When  each  gem  is  set  with  care."^ 

Added  life-battlings  give  not  only  added  dangers, 
but  also  added  possibilities  of  victory  and  of  glory. 
Every  new  triumph  in  the  life  that  is,  is  an  acquisition 
for  the  life  to  come  ;  not  by  way  of  reward,  but  by 
way  of  development;  not  in  enlarged  merit,  but  in 
expanded  character. 

These  conflicts  of  soul,  which  furrow  the  face,  and 
which  whiten  the  hair,  and  which  rack  the  very  heart 
of  hearts,  endear  a  disciple  to  his  Saviour  and  fit 
him  for  greater  joys  and  for  higher  honors  in  that 
Saviour's  presence — when  the  war  is  over.  Aye ! 
and  they  give  him  increased  efficiency  while  the  war 
is  still  in  progress. 

There  is  one  token  of  a  soldier's  standing  which  no 
gold  can  purchase,  no  favor  can  win,  nor  can  even  the 
government  itself  confer  it  as  an  act  of  grace  ;  and 
that  is  the  ''service-chevron,"  a  little  strip  of  lace  upon 
the  soldier's  sleeve,  which  marks  a  completed  full  period 

1  A.  A.  Proctor. 


32  2  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

of  army  enlistment, — of  two  years,  or  three,  or  five,  it 
may  be.  And  when  a  uniform  shows  two,  or  five,  or 
possibly  even  ten,  of  these  "service-chevrons,"  there 
is  an  added  character  to  the  veteran  who  wears  it, — a 
character  which  can  come  only  of  experience  in  hard 
campaigning,  a  character  which  is  sure  to  show  itself 
in  the  bronzed  face,  in  the  compacted  muscles,  and  in 
the  whole  manly  bearing  of  the  soldier-hero. 

The  Queen  may  put  her  royal  son  into  the  army, 
in  a  place  of  high  command,  and  she  can  multiply  his 
decorations,  which  are  proofs  of  her  royal  favor;  but 
she  can  never  give  him  a  **  service-chevron,"  or  a  rib- 
bon or  a  medal  which  marks  an  honorably  completed 
campaign,  until  he  has  served  and  battled  all  a  cam- 
paign through.  And  right  alongside  of  that  fair-faced 
prince-royal,  with  his  uniform  showily  bedecked  with 
its  peace-won  honors,  there  may  stand  a  veteran  offi- 
cer with  an  armless  sleeve,  and  a  sightless  eye,  and  a 
sabre-slashed  cheek,  and  a  breast  hung  over  with 
battle-medals,  who  shall  deserve,  and  shall  have,  the 
praise  of  all  observers,  for  his  service  and  his  achieve- 
ments, beyond  all  that  is  conceded  to  the  honored  son 
of  the  sovereign. 

So  in  the  service  of  the  King  of  kings.  The  fair- 
faced  child  may  be  promoted  by  the  Sovereign's  grace, 
and  stand  in  heaven 

"  A  victor,  ere  he  drew  a  sword ; 
Before  he  toiled,  at  rest." 

But  he  can  never  be  the  veteran  of  a  hundred  fights, 
without  fighting  through  battle  a  hundred  times. 


Victorious  in  Death  and  in  Life        323 

Moreover,  in  life's  battlings,  each  faithfully  com- 
pleted period  of  enlistment  adds  a  semce-chevron  to 
the  uniform  of  both  the  inner  and  the  outer  man,  to 
mark  the  hero-veteran  before  all  the  world. 

"  Every  wrinkled,  care-worn  brow 

Bears  the  record,  Something  done  ! 
Some  time,  somewhere,  then  or  now. 
Battles  lost,  or  battles  won." 

Thank  God,  then,  \S\-dX  you  are  permitted  to  live  on 
and  become  veterans,  instead  of  having  promotion 
without  a  term  of  active  service.  And  at  the  open- 
ing of  every  new  conflict  before  you,  look  forward 
hopefully  to  a  new  victory  and  a  new  attainment.  As 
Admiral  Nelson  said  confidently,  when  the  battle  of 
the  Nile  was  beginning,  **  Here's  for  a  peerage,  or 
Westminster  Abbey  !"  So  you  can  say,  with  sublimer 
confidence,  as  the  combat  thickens  about  you,  "  Here's 
for  a  higher  stand  in  Christ,  or  for  final  rest  with 
Christ!" 

Ah  !  it  is  even  gloiioiis  to  live  on  in  life's  painful 
battlings,  so  long  as  Christ  wants  us  to  fight;  as, 
again,  it  is  blessed  to  die,  when  Christ  calls  us  to  rest 
from  this  fighting.  And,  surely,  if  he  honors  us  by 
trusting  our  fidelity  in  prolonged  campaigning,  we 
ought  to  honor  him  by  trusting  his  fidelity  in  sustain- 
ing us  until  our  campaigning  is  over. 

**  Wherefore  take  up  the  whole  armour  of  God, 
that  ye  may  be  able  to  withstand  in  the  evil  day,  and, 
having  done  all,  to  stand.  Stand  therefore,  having 
girded  your  loins  with   truth,  and  having  put  on  the 


324  Shoes  aiid  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

breastplate  of  righteousness,  and  having  shod  your 
feet  with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace  ; 
withal  taking  up  the  shield  of  faith,  wherewith  ye 
shall  be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the 
evil  one"   (Eph.  6:  13-16). 

"  Dread  not  the  din  and  smoke, 

The  stifling  poison  of  the  fiery  air ; 
Courage  !  It  is  the  battle  of  thy  God  ; 

Stand  !  and  for  him  learn  how  to  do  and  dare. 

"What  though  ten  thousand  fall ! 

And  the  red  field  with  the  dear  dead  be  strewn  ; 
Grasp  but  more  bravely  thy  bright  shield  and  sword; 
Fight  to  the  last,  although  thou  fight'st  alone. 

"What  though  ten  thousand  faint. 

Desert,  or  yield,  or  in  weak  terror  flee ! 
Heed  not  the  panic  of  the  multitude ; 
Thine  be  the  Captain's  watchword, — 
Victory !  "  ^ 

And  "thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  vic- 
tory [in  death  and  in  life\  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ"  !     Amen. 

1 H.  Bonar. 


REJOICING  IN  PEACE 


XIV 
REJOICING  IN  PEACE 

Only  the  boy  who  has  been  away  from  home  long 
enough  to  be  really  homesick  knows  how  to  appre- 
ciate the  privilege  and  delights  of  home.  Only  the 
soldier  who  has  fought  and  endured,  and  suffered  the 
privations  and  disappointments  and  deferred  hopes  of 
a  prolonged  war,  knows  how  to  appreciate  and  to  re- 
joice in  finally  attained  peace.  It  is  impossible  for 
the  young  in  these  glad  days  to  understand  what  were 
the  feelings  of  the  Union  soldiers  when  peace  finally 
came  after  the  four  long  years  of  our  Civil  War. 

When,  after  Appomattox  Court-House,  our  brigade 
returned  to  Richmond,  and  was  given  a  position,  for 
rest  and  guard  duty,  in  the  suburbs  of  the  long- 
besieged  capital  of  the  Confederacy,  the  rejoicings  of 
officers  and  men  were  unbounded  and  overwhelming. 
No  more  fightings,  no  more  privations,  no  more  fears, 
no  more  enemies  for  us.  Peace  had  come.  What 
more  was  there  to  long  for  now  ?  The  national  flag 
waved  over  the  Confederate  capital.  Our  military 
department  commander  had  his  headquarters  in  the 
residence  of  "  President "  Jefferson  Davis.  Federal 
guards  moved  undisturbed  before  the  home  of  Gen- 

327 


328  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

eral  Lee,  and  had  their  stations  in  Libby  Prison,  in 
Castle  Thunder,  and  on  Belle  Island.  On  all  sides 
were  evidences  of  victory  and  of  peace.  It  was  almost 
too  good  to  be  true.  Yet  it  was  all  true,  while  it  was 
more  than  good. 

It  was  then  that  I  wrote  and  preached  to  my  regi- 
ment, which  was  stationed  just  north  of  Richmond,  a 
sermon  on  Peace.  By  special  request  I  repeated  this 
sermon  before  the  Twenty-fourth  Massachusetts  Regi- 
ment, which  was  on  guard  in  the  city,  and  the  com- 
mander of  which  was  in  charge  of  Libby  Prison, 
where  I  had  been  confined.  That  sermon  I  give 
herewith  in  its  complete  form  as  then  preached.  Its 
spirit  and  its  letter  seem  appropriate  for  the  closing 
of  this  little  collection  of  army-chaplain  teachings  and 
preachings. 


PEACE  AT  LAST 

*'  Thou  wilt  keep  Jam  m  perfect  peace,  whose  mind  is 
stayed  on  thee :  because  lie  tnisteth  in  thee  (Isa.  26  :  3). 

Peace  !  What  a  precious  word.  How  joyous  and 
full  of  comfort  to  all.  And  to  the  soldier  how  much 
it  means.  If  any  appreciate  its  full  force  and  blessed- 
ness, you  do.  From  love  of  peace,  you  left  your 
homes  and  came  to  the  war.  To  ''seek  peace,  and 
pursue  it"  (Psa.  34:  14),  you  turned  away  from 
mother  and  sister,  from  wife  and  child,  gave  up  all 
that  you  had  before  deemed  essential  to  enjoyment, 
and  entered  upon  a  life  of  severest  trial  and  greatest 
exposure  and  peril.  You  have  suffered  and  sacrificed 
for  peace,  longed  for  peace,  prayed  for  peace,  fought 
for  peace. 

The  hope  of  peace  has  kept  you  up  in  all  these 
weary,  waiting  weeks  of  war  ;  its  deferring  has  made 
your  hearts  sick,  and  has  saddened  and  depressed  you 
in  many  a  troubled  hour.  While  on  the  lonely  vedette 
post,  at  the  dead  of  night  in  the  pine  forest,  with  no 
sound  to  be  heard  but  the  chirp  of  the  cricket  or  the 
call  of  the  whip-poor-will,  as  you  peered  out  into  the 
darkness  in  the  direction  of  the  foe,  and  watched  vigi- 
lantly while  you  longed  for  the  next  relief, — you  have 

329 


330  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

thought  of  peace,  and  wondered  when  and  how  it 
would  come,  and  whether  you  would  live  to  see  and 
enjoy  it.  You  have  dreamed  of  peace  while  you  lay 
in  camp,  or  as  you  napped  it  by  the  wayside  or  in  the 
battle-line,  waiting  the  order  to  advance.  On  guard, 
during  dragging  hours  in  hospital  ;  on  the  sea-washed 
deck,  or  in  the  close,  dark,  dingy  hold  of  the  army 
transport ;  bivouacking,  marching,  throwing  up  earth- 
works, resting  under  cover,  broiling  in  the  trenches,  or 
sitting  in  the  chapel  tent, — you  have  had  peace  before 
your  eyes  as  a  pleasant  vision  which  you  hardly  dared 
hope  to  see. 

You  have  written  home  of  peace.  You  have  talked 
of  peace  with  your  comrades  by  the  cook-tent  or  the 
field  camp-fire.  The  possibility  of  peace  has  nerved 
your  arms  in  the  hour  of  fiercest  conflict,  and  that 
you  might  help  to  secure  peace  you  have  stood  un- 
flinchingly while  comrades  fell  from  your  side  in  the 
shock  of  battle,  have  pressed  forward  with  the  advance 
in  the  deadly  charge,  or  grappled  with  the  enemy  in 
the  fearful  hand-to-hand  struggle  on  the  parapet  or 
within  the  surmounted  fortress. 

And  when  there  was  a  lull  in  the  storm  of  war,  or 
one  victory  or  another  to  our  national  arms  had  given 
fresh  ground  for  glad  expectation  and  assured  hope, 
you  have  asked  of  some  intelligent  comrade,  or  trusted 
commander,  or  of  your  chaplain,  how  long  it  would 
probably  be  before  peace  might  be  attained  ;  and  you 
have  wished  that  he  could  give  you  some  better  an- 
swer than  that  he  waited  and  wondered  and  longed 


Rejoicing  in  Peace  331 

and  prayed  with  the  same  restless  desire  and  in  the 
same  ignorance  and  bhndness  as  yourselves. 

What  cared  you  for  victoiy  save  as  an  earnest  of 
peace  ?  What  was  Roanoke  ;  what  was  New  Berne ; 
what  was  Kinston  ;  what  were  James  Island  and  Fort 
Wagner ;  what  were  Deep  Bottom  and  New  Market 
Heights  ;  what  was  Petersburg,  to  yoti ; — what  were 
Antietam,  and  Fort  Donelson,  and  New  Orleans,  and 
Gettysburg,  and  Vicksburg,  and  Chattanooga,  and 
Atlanta,  and  Savannah,  and  Charleston,  and  Richmond, 
to  the  nation,  in  comparison  with  Appomattox  Court- 
House  ?  The  others  brought  glor^^  ;  that  brought 
peace.  Were  your  hearts  ever  before  so  elated  ?  Did 
they  ever  so  bound  with  gladness  as  then  ?  Did  you 
ever  give  God  thanks  with  reverent  gratitude  so 
heartily  as  when  the  announcement  that  Lee  had  sur- 
rendered brought  you  assurance  that  the  end  of  the 
war  was  reached,  and  that  at  last  peace  had  come? 
Peace  !     Peace  !     God  be  praised  for  peace ! 

Peace  has  been  ever  deemed  a  synonym  of  the 
richest  blessing,  and  its  possession  the  most  favored 
lot  of  man.  ''The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon 
thee,  and  give  \h^^ peace''  (Num_,  6  :  26),  was  the  con- 
cluding benediction  of  Aaron  and  his  sons  upon  the 
house  of  Israel,  according  to  the  divinely  ordained 
liturgy.  David  declared  that  the  end  of  the  perfect 
man  and  the  upright  is  /^<7r^  (Psa.  37:  37).  When 
the  Angel  of  the  Lord  came  to  the  shepherds  on  the 
plain  of  Bethlehem,  bringing  the  good  tidings  of 
great    joy    to    all    people,    while    the    glory    of    the 


332   Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


jj 


Lord  shone  round  about,  the  glad  ciy  of  the  multi- 
tude of  the  heavenly  host  which  rang  through  the 
universe  in  annunciation  of  the  advent  of  the  Re- 
deemer of  the  world  was,  *'  Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men  " 
(Luke  2  :  9-14).  And  when  our  Saviour  was  returning 
to  his  celestial  home,  his  gracious  words  to  his  be- 
loved disciples  were,  in  tenderness  and  love,  ''Peace 
I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you  "  (John 
14  :  27). 

Isaiah,  sweet  poet  and  glad  prophet  of  God's 
chosen  people,  describing  sadly  the  course  of  the 
church  in  the  following  years,  told  of  dark  da\'s  when 
God's  people  were  to  be  tried  and  sore  distressed, 
and  calamity  should  be  over  all  the  land,  and  utter  de- 
struction would  seem  to  await  those  who  before  had 
been  favored  in  all  the  earth.  But  he  gave  hope  of 
national  redemption  and  of  a  new  season  of  rarest 
prosperity,  when  God  should  make  unto  all  people  a 
feast  of  fat  things  full  of  marrow,  of  wine  on  the  lees 
well  refined,  when  he  would  destroy  the  face  of  the 
covering  so  long  cast  over  the  people,  and  the  veil 
spread  over  the  nations,  when  he  should  wipe  away 
tears  from  off  all  faces,  and  take  away  the  rebuke  of 
his  people  from  off  all  the  earth.  *'  In  that  day  shall 
this  song,"  Isaiah  says,  "  be  sung  in  the  land  of  Judah  ; 
We  have  a  strong  city  ;  salvation  will  God  appoint 
for  walls  and  bulwarks.  Open  ye  the  gates,  that  the 
righteous  nation  which  keepeth  the  truth  may  enter 
in.     Thou   wilt   keep    him    in    perfect   peace,  whose 


Rejoicijig  in  Peace  333 

mind  is  stayed  on  thee  :  because  he  trusteth  in  thee" 
(Isa.  26  :  1-3). 

The  joy  of  the  saints  is  pictured  as  peace — "  per- 
fect peace."  And  I  have  often  thought  that  in  all 
the  precious  pages  of  the  Old  Testament  writings  no 
single  passage  is  more  beautiful,  or  contains  a  richer 
assurance  of  God's  love  and  power,  than  the  text  I 
have  named  :  *'Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace, 
whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee :  because  he  trusteth  in 
thee." 

The  peace  of  the  trusting  child  of  God  is  continu- 
ous and  undisturbed.  It  is  not  like  an  armistice  pre- 
ceded and  to  be  followed  by  bitter  conflict.  It  is  not 
like  the  fatal  calm  just  before  the  battle  opens,  while 
the  skirmishers  are  cautiously  feeling  for  the  enemy. 
It  is  not  like  the  lull  for  an  hour  at  Petersburg,  or  a 
day  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  with  the  nervous  conscious- 
ness ever  present  that  each  second  of  quiet  may  be 
the  last ;  nor  yet  like  the  weeks  of  inaction  at  New 
Berne,  St.  Helena,  Seabrook  Island,  or  St.  Augustine, 
with  the  war  still  dragging  on  and  a  call  to  a  new 
front  likely  to  come  at  any  time.  There  is  no  real 
rest — no  thorough  refreshing  of  body  and  mind — to 
the  soldier,  wherever  he  may  find  himself,  so  long  as 
a  state  of  warfare  continues  in  his  country. 

It  is  only  when  permanent  peace  to  the  entire  coun- 
try is  secured,  with  no  danger  of  a  resumption  of 
hostilities,  that  he  can  be  kept  in  perfect  or  unmarred 
peace. 

As  the  soldier's  rest  can  be  after  the  war  for  which 


334  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

he  enlisted  has  closed,  so  is  the  faithful  saint's  rest 
always.  He  knows  that  his  fighting  is  at  an  end. 
There  may  be  war  for  others,  but  not  for  him.  He 
will  look  up  no  spiritual  Mexicos  in  which  to  exercise 
his  martial  spirit,  now  that  the  dearest  interests  for 
which  he  battled  are  secure.  Even  amid  wars  and 
rumors  of  wars  in  other  lands  on  every  side,  he  is 
kept  in  perfect  peace  ;  nothing  alarms,  nothing  dis- 
turbs him.  By  day  and  by  night,  in  joy  and  in  sor- 
row, in  sickness  and  health,  when  tried  and  tempted, 
when  betrayed  by  trusted  friends,  when  disappointed 
in  fondest  hopes,  when  bereaved,  when  forsaken,  when 
God's  ways  are  most  inscrutable,  when  all  about  him 
seems  darkest,  he  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  the  loving 
Omnipotent  One  is  kept  in  perfect  peace. 

He  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  God !  Not  all  in  this 
weaiy  world  have  peace.  *'  There  is  no  peace,  saith 
my  God,  to  the  wicked"  (Isa.  57  :  21).  The  law  in 
the  members  is  warring  against  the  law  of  the  mind 
continually  of  him  who  does  not  serve  and  trust 
Jehovah  (Rom.  7  :  23).  The  man  who  lacks  confi- 
dence in  Jesus  as  his  Saviour  and  Friend,  has  no  de- 
lightful repose  of  mind  and  conscience.  Any  of  you 
who  do  not  count  yourselves  devoted  children  of  God 
are  at  the  best  restless. 

If  }'ou  are  scoffers,  or  are  deliberate  violators  of 
his  law, — if  you  are  profane  or  intemperate  or  dis- 
honest,— if  you  are  ill-tempered,  or  unfaithful  in  any 
way  to  the   demands   of  duty, — you    are,  with  other 


Rejoicing  in  Peace  335 


wicked  ones,  ''like  the  troubled  sea,  when  it  cannot 
rest,  whose  waters  cast  up  mire  and  dirt"  (Isa.  57  :  20). 
If  you  are  passably  correct  in  deportment,  or  even 
reverent  toward  God  and  faithful  to  your  neighbor, 
yet  have  not  your  mind  stayed  on  God  (Phil.  4  :  7), 
you  lack  that  peace  ''which  passeth  all  understand- 
ing" which  comes  from  the  knowledge  that  your 
Redeemer  liveth,  Jehovah,  your  Redeemer's  Father 
and  your  Father,  reigneth  supremely,  and  that  all 
things  work  together  for  good  to  you  who  love  him. 

If  your  inner  thoughts  in  your  calmer  moments,  in 
seasons  of  retirement,  while  by  yourselves,  on  guard, 
or  in  your  tents,  or  on  your  beds,  could  testify,  this 
truth  would  stand  out  before  all  the  world  as  it  is  de- 
clared in  revelation  :  that  they — and  they  alone— are 
kept  in  perfect  peace  whose  minds  are  stayed  on 
God,  who  have  fought  the  good  fight  of  faith  and 
come  off  conquerors  through  him  who  loved  us  and 
gave  himself  for  us,  and  now  have  rest  from  war. 

"  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace,  whose  mind 
is  stayed  on  thee  :  because  he  trusteth  in  thee"  (Isa. 
26  :  3).  "  Because  he  trusteth  in  thee."  There  is  no 
repose  but  in  confidence.  A  man  standing  on  the 
edge  of  a  precipice  must  be  sure  of  his  footing  or  he 
can  not  be  at  ease.  A  man  on  the  skirmish-line  must 
be  sure  of  his  rifle.  A  regiment  in  battle,  however 
gallant  and  efficient,  wants  to  know  that  its  flanks  are 
protected,  and  that  the  regiment  at  right  or  left  won't 
break  and  run  at  the  first  fire. 

He  who  trusteth  in  God  has  confidence.      He  stands 


^2,6  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

on  the  Rock  Christ  Jesus.  He  shall  not  be  cast 
down.  He  is  clad  in  the  whole  armor  of  God  ;  no 
weapon  that  is  formed  against  him  shall  prosper. 
"The  angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth  round  about 
them  that  fear  him,  and  delivereth  them"  (Psa.  34 :  7). 
They  are  protected  in  front,  flank,  and  rear. 

It  is  easy  to  have  confidence  when  there  is  no  ap- 
parent cause  for  alarm.  The  very  child  who  would 
tremble  and  fear  in  a  thunder-storm  is  cheerful  and 
undisturbed  on  a  bright  summer  morning.  The  fam- 
ily with  its  circle  unbroken  and  all  its  surroundings 
those  of  affluence,  of  refinement,  of  health,  and  of 
beauty,  can  have  confidence  that  all  is  and  is  to  be 
well  with  them,  even  though  they  would  be  anxious 
or  even  terror-stricken  if  malignant  disease  were  to 
invade  their  neighborhood,  or  if  incendiaries  and  assas- 
sins were  known  to  be  at  work  in  their  vicinity.  Sol- 
diers who  would  be  demoralized  by  hearing  an  enemy 
in  their  rear,  or  by  an  unexpected  sweep  of  grape  and 
canister  from  a  masked  batteiy  just  in  front,  would 
go  on  boldly  while  the  enemy  was  falling  back  and  the 
shouts  of  victorious  comrades  came  up  encouragingly 
from  right  and  left  far  up  and  down  the  battle-line. 

If  the  child  trusted  implicitly  his  strong  and  loving 
father,  and  had  learned  to  rely  unhesitatingly  on  his 
word  and  his  supporting  presence,  he  might  stand 
unmoved  while  the  lightnings  flashed  and  the  thunders 
pealed  from  the  dark  storm-clouds,  and  might  enjoy 
the  magnificence  and  grandeur  of  the  scene  as  pointed 
out  to  him  by  the  one  on  whom  his  young  mind  was 


Rejoicing  in  Peace  2)2)1 

stayed.  If  the  family  felt  themselves  already  guarded 
against  the  dreaded  contagion,  and  had  no  doubt  of 
the  bolts  or  bars  of  their  dwelling,  or  the  faithfulness 
of  their  long-tried  watchman,  they  might  still  find  en- 
joyment in  the  delights  of  their  home  circle,  because 
they  trusted  in  what  had  never  failed  them. 

If  the  soldiers  knew  their  commander  and  that  he 
had  never  been  defeated,  and  they  had  just  received 
word  from  him  that  all  was  right,  or  if  they  were  so 
confident  of  their  own  strength  that  they  could  rush  to 
the  capture  of  the  battery  before  its  second  discharge, 
they  would  be  still  steady,  still  faithful,  as  though  all 
about  them  was  indicative  of  present  triumph. 

He  who  trusteth  in  God,  he  whose  mind  is  really 
stayed  on  God,  is  just  as  cheerful,  just  as  calm,  or  is 
as  fully  resigned  and  hopeful  when  the  sky  of  his  life 
is  overcast,  and  the  atmosphere  breeds  disease  or 
bodes  death  to  those  less  favored,  and  when  others 
seem  to  be  suffering  defeat,  as  in  the  brightest  hour 
of  health  and  victory.  It  is  just  when  there  is  most 
need  of  special  strength  that  God  gives  it  to  his  trust- 
ful children.  It  is  just  when  there  is  room  for  doubt 
that  assured  confidence  in  a  never-failing  support 
comes  to  the  aid  of  him  who  enjoys  it. 

"As  thou  wilt !  still  I  can  believe  ; 

Never  did  the  word  of  promise  fail. 
Faith  can  hold  it  fast,  and  feel  it  sure, 

Though  temptations  cloud,  and  fears  assail. 
Why  art  thou  disquieted,  O  my  soul  ? 
When  thy  Father  knows,  and  rules  the  whole. 


2,2,8  SJioes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 


"As  thou  wilt,  O  Lord  !     I  ask  no  more. 

With  the  promise,  Faith  pursues  her  way  ; 
Patience  can  endure  through  sorrow's  night, 

Hope  can  look  beyond  to  Heaven's  own  day, 
Love  can  wait,  and  trust,  and  labor  still ; 
Life  and  death  shall  be,  according  to  Thy  will !  "  ^ 

All  God's  signs  of  power  and  sovereignty  but  give 
new  ground  of  confidence  to  those  whose  rr.inds  are 
stayed  on  God.  Does  the  young  lion  shrink  from  the 
strong  frame,  the  stout  limb,  and  the  sharp  claws  of 
the  king  of  beasts  ?  Or  do  these  but  give  greater 
confidence  to  the  dependent  creature  in  whose  behalf 
they  are  exercised  for  the  obtaining  of  daily  food  ? 
Yet  **The  young  lions  do  lack,  and  suffer  hunger :  but 
they  that  seek  the  Lord  shall  not  want  any  good 
thing"  (Psa.  34:  10).  Does  the  loyal  citizen  of  the 
Republic  have  anxiety  and  fear  because  of  the  vast 
authority  centered  in  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
nation?  Or  does  he,  from  a  knowledge  of  this,  have 
restful  satisfaction  in  the  thought  that  his  personal 
and  social  interests  as  a  citizen  are  sure  of  being  pro- 
tected against  all  foreign  and  domestic  foes  ?  Yet  it 
is  not  safe  to  put  implicit  trust  in  man,  nor  in  the  son 
of  man  in  whom  is  no  sure  help  (Psa.  146:  3)  ;  for 
the  Lord  alone  doeth  wondrously  (Psa.  72:  18),  and 
there  is  none  good  but  One,  that  is  God  (Luke  18  :  19). 

Do  you  enjoy  perfect  peace  ?  The  end  of  the  war 
in  which  you  have  fought  so  bravely  and  endured  so 
nobly  is  at  hand.      Is  there  no  warfare  in  your  mem- 

1  Neumeister,  "  Hymns  from  Land  of  Luther,"  page  145. 


Rejoicing  in  Peace  339 


bers,  the  issue  of  which  gives  you  doubt  ?  Are  you 
sure  of  victory  over  self,  of  victory  over  sin,  of  vic- 
tory over  death  ?  God  keeps  those  in  perfect  peace 
whose  minds  are  stayed  on  him.  If  you  are  still  dis- 
trustful— if  you  are  not  yet  a  rejoicing  conqueror — it 
is  because  of  your  lacking  restful  faith  in  Jesus,  not 
having  your  mind  stayed  on  him,  as  your  only,  your 
all-sufficient  Redeemer. 

Is  your  mind  stayed  on  Jesus  ?  If  so,  you  need 
never  know  fear,  for  perfect  love  brings  perfect  peace 
and  casteth  out  fear.  You  will  not  be  without  trials, 
but  you  may  have  peace  of  mind  in  all  your  trials, 
and  assured  confidence  for  the  happy  end.  '*  Many 
are  the  afflictions  of  the  righteous  :  but  the  Lord  de- 
livereth  him  out  of  them  all"  (Psa.  34:  19).  "The 
Lord  redeemeth  the  soul  of  his  servants  :  and  none 
of  them  that  trust  in  him  shall  be  desolate"  (Psa. 
34:  22). 

If  your  mind  is  not  stayed  on  Jesus,  what  is  its 
stay?  What  is  your  trust  this  hour?  What  gives 
you  comfort  in  sorrow?  What  gives  you  unalloyed 
joy  in  peace  ?  What  is  your  source  of  strength  for 
daily  duty?  What  is  your  hope  for  the  eternal 
future?  Who  stands  for  you  now  in  the  Father's 
presence  ?  Who  will  welcome  you  at  the  final 
judgment?  There  is  but  one  Redeemer,  but  one 
sure  comfort  for  any  sorrowing,  sinning  child  of  man. 
Every  other  stay  will  fail  as  the  broken  reed, — piercing, 
not  upholding,  him  who  leans  on  it  for  support.  Peace 
in   the   soul  is   found  only  under  the   banner  of  the 


340  Shoes  and  Rations  for  a  Long  March 

Prince  of  Peace.  Whatever  other  flag  waves  above 
or  is  followed  by  you,  will  avail  you  nothing  when 
you  have  fought  your  last  fight  on  earth,  however 
dear  it  may  be  to  you  while  you  are  still  a  soldier  of 
the  government  it  represents. 

Blessed  be  God  for  the  peace  which  opens  before 
us  as  a  nation,  with  the  rest  it  brings  to  us  as  soldiers 
in  the  Union  army  !  Blessed  be  God  for  the  perfect 
peace  in  which  those  are  kept  whose  minds  are  stayed 
on  him,  and  who  trust  him  wholly  !  God  grant  that 
as  you  enter  upon  the  joys  of  peace  to  our  favored 
land,  you  may  not  shut  out  yourselves  from  the  peace 
which  God  speaks  to  his  people  and  to  his  saints, 
the  peace  which  passeth  all  understanding  (Psa.  85  :  8), 
and  which  is  unbroken  and  eternal. 

And  now  may  *'  the  God  of  peace,  that  brought 
again  from  the  dead  our  Lord  Jesus,  that  great  Shep- 
herd of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  [the  life]  of  the 
everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every  good 
work  to  do  his  will,  working  in  you  that  which  is 
well  pleasing  in  his  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ ;  to 
whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen"  (Heb. 
13  :  20,  21). 


INDEXES 


TOPICAL  INDEX 


Aaron,  reference  to,  331. 
Abed-nego,  reference  to,  228. 
Abel,  reference  to,  244. 
Abraham,  references  to,  32,  220,  244. 
Absalom,  reference  to,  22. 
Acorn:  its  prolificness,  loi. 
Acrocorinthus,  reference  to,  242. 
Adam,  cowardice  of,  177. 
Agricultural  College  at  Amherst,  refer- 
ence to,  216. 
Alexander,  Mrs.,  quotation  from,  152. 
Alexander,  Archibald,  reference  to,  248. 
Alexander  the  Great,  reference  to,  32. 
America,  foot-gear  of  women  of,  10. 
Amherst,  Massachusetts,  reference  to, 

147. 
Amherst    College,    references    to,    52, 

147  f.,  216. 
Andersonville    prison,    references     to, 

86  f.,  210. 
Antietam,  reference  to,  331. 
Aphrodite,  temple  of,  reference  to,  242. 
ApoUos,  reference  to,  244. 
Appomattox    Court  House,  references 

to,  117,  327,  331. 
Arabs  of  Sinai,  foot-gear  of,  11. 
Archer,  Mrs.,  incident  in  life  of,  296  f. 
Arnald,  Prince,  reference  to,  33. 
Arnold  of  Rugby,  quotation  from,  169. 
Assyria  :    reference    to    kings    of,    32 ; 

moral  teachings  of  sages  of,  190. 
Astor,  William  B.,  reference  to.  157. 
Aihanasius,  quotation  from,  178. 
Athenai,  reference  to.  242. 
Athens  :  temple  of,4Q  ;  reference  to,  241. 
Atlanta,  Georgia,  reference  to,  331. 
Atlas,    child's    thought   about    fabled, 

276  f. 
Attica,  reference  to,  242. 
Augustine,   Saint  :    reference    to,    165  ; 

quotation  from,  252. 

Baal,  references  to,  287,  316. 

Babylon  :    reference    to    kings    of,    32 ; 

captivity  of  children  of  Judah  in, 

228. 


Barak,  references  to,  244,  294. 

Baxter,  Richard,  quotation  from,  304, 

Bean  :  its  prolificness,  loi. 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  quotations  from, 
158.  176. 

Beethoven,  quotation  from,  167. 

Belgium,  foot-gear  of  women  of,  10. 

Belle  Island,  references  to,  86,  210,  [•28. 

Benhadad,  reference  to,  32. 

Bermuda  Hundred,  reference  to.  333. 

"  Billings,  Josh,"  quotation  from,  102. 

Binney.  Horace,  reference  to,  248. 

Biton  and  Cleobis.  story  of,  309. 

Blind  girl,  incident  of,  226. 

Bonar,  Horatius,  cjuotations  from,  42, 
114.  324. 

Boodhism  :  teaching  of,  81  ;  reference 
to,  200. 

Boston  Latin  School,  reference  to,  52. 

Brahmanism,  teaching  of,  81. 

Bright,  John,  "Punch's"  praise  for, 
180. 

British  Academy  of  Medicine,  refer- 
ence to,  173. 

Broadway,  incident  of  lost  boy  in.  89  f. 

Brougham,  Lord  :  quotation  from,  154  ; 
reference  to.  169  ;  his  work  in  free- 
ing England's  slaves,  181. 

Brown,  John,  reference  to,  175. 

Browning,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Barrett, 
quotation  from,  84  f. 

Buffon,  quotation  from,  167. 

Bulwer's  "  Schiller,"  quotations  from, 
166,  169. 

"  Burial  of  Moses,"  quotation  from, 
152. 

Burke,  Edmund,  quotations  from.  160, 
171. 

Burns,  quotation  from,  136. 

Burritt,  Elihu,  quotation  from,  166  f. 

Bushnell,  Dr.  Horace  :  reference  to, 
150;   quotation  from.  271. 

Bushnell,  Louisa,  quotation  from,  78. 

Bu.xton,  Sir  Fowell  :  quotation  from, 
170;  his  work  in  freeing  England's 
slaves,  181. 

343 


344 


Topical  Index 


Campbell,  quotation  from,  128. 
Canaan,  reference  to,  30. 
Capernaum,  references  to,  75-78,  85. 
Card-playing,  reference  to,  229. 
Cariyle,  reference  to,  176. 
Castle  Thunder,  reference  to,  328. 
Cecil,  Richard,  quotation  from,  104. 
"  Character,"  meaning  of  word,  138. 
Charles  V.,  Titian's  letter  to.  168 
Charleston  :  incidents  of  prison  life  in, 
43,  84,  86  f.,  207-211  ;  references  to, 

Chatrian.     See  Ercktnann- Chatrian. 
Chattanooga,  reference  to,  331. 
Chicago,  reference  to.  64. 
China,  moral  teachings  of  sages  of.  190. 
Chinese:    their   foot-gear,    9    f.;    refer- 
ence   to,    222;     ancestor- worship 

among,  250. 
"  Chronology,"  Newton's,  reference  to, 

168. 
Chronometer,  conscience  compared  to, 

231. 
Clark,     President,     of     Massachusetts 

Agricultural       College,     quotation 

from.    148. 
Clarke,  Adam,  quotation  from,  171  f. 
Clarkson's   work   in  freeing  England's 

slaves,  181. 
Cleobis,  reference  to,  309. 
Columbia  jail  :    references    to,    52.    86, 

210.  281  ;  incident  ot  life  in,  73. 
Color-blindness:  moral, 215-236  ;  among 

railroad  men.  217  f. 
Compass  :   its   testing  by  shipbuilders, 

227  ;  conscience  compared  to,  227  f. 
Confucianism,  teaching  of,  82. 
Conscience  :  not  a  safe  guide,  215-236; 

compared     to     chronometer.    231 ; 

compared   to  compass,  257  f. 
Corinth,  references  to,  241  f. 
Corn  :  its  prolificness,  100  f. 
"  Cosmos."   Humboldt's,  reference  to, 

168  f. 
Cowper.  W..  quotations  from,  224,  288. 
Cromwell,  reference  to,  175. 
Cuzco,  temple  at,  40. 

Dana,  Dr.  S.  W.,  reference  to,  282. 

Dancing,  reference  to,  229. 

Dandolo,  reference  to,  176. 

Daniel,  reference  to,  228. 

David,  references  to,  to8,  151-153, 174  f., 
181,  244,  246,  294,  331. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  reference  to,  327. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  refer- 
ence to.  247. 

Deep  Bottom,  reference  to,  331. 

Demosthenes,  reference  to.  169. 

Dickens,  Charles,  quotation  from,  167. 

Disraeli,  quotation  from.  170. 

Dobcll,  Sydney,  quotation  from,  178. 


Drummond,  Professor  Henry,  refer- 
ences to,  68,  193. 

Dublin  University,  reference  to,  157. 

Dyaks  of  Borneo,  rating  of  character 
among,  226. 

Easthampton,   Massachusetts,  refer- 
ences to,  144,  147. 
Ebal,  reference  to,  30. 
Egypt  :     references    to    kings    of,    32  ; 

reference    to,    104,    315;    Napoleon 

in,  247. 
Egyptians,  moral  teachings  of,  190. 
Eleventh    Maine    Regiment,    reference 

to,  281. 
Elijah  :  his  bravery  before  prophets  of 

Baal,    175;     references    to,    286    f., 

316-318. 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  reference  to,  161. 
Emerson.     Ralph    Waldo,    quotations 

from,  137.  179. 
England  :   foot-gear  of  women  of,   10  ; 

work  of  Sharp,  Brougham,  Wilber- 

force,  and  Clarkson  in  freeing  slaves 

of,  181. 
Enoch,  reference  to,  244. 
Ephraim,  hills  of,  reference  to,  30. 
Erckmann-Chatrian,    quotation     from, 

164. 
Esau,  reference  to,  108. 
Eton,  reference  to,  155. 
"  Eugene  Aram."  quotation  from,  130. 
Euphrates,  reference  to,  30. 

Fabek,  F.  W.,  quotation  from,  314. 

Ferguson,  James,  reference  to,  99. 

Fisk  &  Co.,  "  Jim,"  reference  to,  158. 

Flavel,  reference  to,  304. 

Foot-gear  :  in  Smithsonian  Institution, 
9;  among  Chinese  women,  9  f.; 
among  peasant  women  of  Holland 
and  Belgium.  10 ;  among  women 
of  England  and  America,  10; 
among  Arabs  of  Sinai,  11  ;  among 
Israelites,  11. 

1  ort  Donelson.  reference  to,  331. 

Fort  Wagner,  references  to,  43,  331. 

Foss,  President,  of  Wesleyan  Univer- 
sity, quotation  from,  274  f. 

Fox.  Charles  James,  quotation  from, 
171. 

Franks,  reference  to,  33. 

Fuller,  Thomas,  quotation  from,  109. 

Galilee,  references  to,  31,  75,  283. 
Galileo,  reference  to,  98  f. 
Garfield,  reference  to.  99. 
Cierizim,  reference  to,  30. 
Ciettysburg,  references  to,  207.  331. 
(iiardini.  reference  to,  167. 
Gibbon's  ''  Memoir,"  reference  to,  168. 
Gideon,  references  to,  244,  294. 


Topical  hidex 


45 


Glasgow,  incident  related  by  John  B. 
Gough  in,  -^96  f. 

Goethe,  quotation  from,  180. 

Gough,  John  B.,  incident  related  by, 
296  f. 

Grant,  General,  reference  to.  313. 

Gray,  Elinor,  quotation  from,  96. 

Greece :  moral  teachings  of  philoso- 
phers of,  190;  wisdom  of  classic 
philosophies  ot,  200. 

Greeks,  rights  of  new-born  child  among, 
191  f. 

Grenoble,  Napoleon's  bravery  at,  174  f. 

Guest.  William,  quotation  from,  160. 

Gurney,  John  Joseph,  quotation  from, 

153- 

Hamilton,  A.  E.,  quotation  from,  311. 
Hastings,  Warren,   references  to,  160, 

171. 
Havergal,   Frances    Ridley,  quotation 

from.  95. 
Hawes,  Dr.  Joel,  quotation  from,  159. 
Hazael,  reference  to.  32. 
Heber.  Bishop,  quotation  from,  87. 
Helicon,  reference  to,  242. 
'•  Hell  Fire,"  incident  in  life  of.  296  f. 
Henshaw.    Principal    Marshall,    refer- 
ence to,  145. 
Herbert,  George,  quotation  from,  139. 
Hermon,  reference  to,  30. 
Herodotus,  incident  from,  309. 
Hill,  President,  of  Harvard,  quotation 

from,  157. 
Holland,  foot-gear  of  women  of,  10. 
Hood,  quotation  from.  130. 
Hormozan,  reference  to,  33. 
House  of  Commons,  reference  to,  170. 
•'  Human    Body,    and    its    Connection 

with  Man,  The,"  reference  to,  159. 
Humboldt's  "  Cosmos,"   reference    to, 

168  f 
"  Hymns  from  the  Land  of    Luther," 

reference  to,  337  f. 
"  Hypocrisy,"    meaning    of   the   word, 

122  f. 

Incident  :  of  army  experiences  in 
North  Carolina,  7;  of  prison  life  in 
Charleston,  43,  84,  86  f.,  207-211; 
of  New  Hampshire  boy,  44-47  :  of 
godless  army  captain,  63  ;  of  prison 
life  in  Columbia,  73  ;  of  soldier  in 
Richmond,  83  f. ;  of  New  England 
prayer-meeting,  88  :  of  lost  boy  in 
New  York,  89  f.;  of  Virginia  mur- 
derer, 111-113;  of  bravery  of  Na- 
poleon, 174  f.;  of  blind  girl,  226  ; 
of  Napoleon  at  pyramids,  247  ;  in 
life  of  Mrs.  Archer,  2y6  1'.;  in  ascent 
of  Mount  Sinai.  307;  from  Herodo- 
tus,   309;    of    prison-life    in    South 


Carolina,   312  f.;    of  dying   girl    in 

Philadelphia,  317  f. ;  at  battle  oi  the 

Nile,  323. 
Lidia,  moral  teachings  of  sages  of,  lyo 
Indian  corn,  prolificness  of,  100  f. 
Indians,  reference  to,  222. 
Indians,  American,  rating  of  character 

among.  226 
Indianapolis,   National  Sunday-school 

Convention  at,  66. 
International  Bible  Lessons,  66. 
"  Iron  Duke,"  references  to,  155,  310. 
Irving,  Washington,  reference  to,  169. 
Isaac,  reference  to,  244. 
Isis,  reference  to,  104. 
Isles  of  Shoals,  reference  to,  52. 
Isthmian  games,  references  to,  242-244. 

Jackson,  Thomas  :   reference  to,  167  ; 

quotation  from,  168. 
Jacob,  references  to,  31,  220,  244. 
Jacob's   Well,  references  to,  28,  30,  31, 

33  f-.  37.  39- 
James  Island,  reference  to,  331 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  reference  to,  248. 

Jenner.  reference  to,  168. 

Jephthah,  references  to,  244,  294. 

Jerusalem,    references    to,    28,    30,    75, 

259  f. 
Jesus   at   Jacob's   Well,  references  to, 

28,  32. 
Jews,  reference  to,  316. 
Jezreel,  reference  to,  30. 
Job,  references  to,  165,  181,  315,  317  f. 
John,  reference  to,  283. 
John  the  Baptist,  reference  to,  202. 
Jonah,  reference  to,  22. 
Joseph,  reference  to,  244. 
Joshua,  reference  to,  244 
Jordan,  references  to,  30  f.,  283. 
Judas,  reference  to,  284. 
Judea,  references  to.  31,  75. 
Juno,  reference  to,  309. 

Kadesh.  reference  to,  286. 
Kedor-la'omer.  reference  to,  32. 
'•  King  Duncan."  reference  to,  132. 
Kinston,  reference  to,  331. 
Klondike,  reference  to,  53. 

La  Gkanja,  reference  to,  40. 
"  Lady  Macbeth,"  reference  to,  132. 
Laodicea,  reference  to.  246. 
Larcom,  Lucy,  quotation  from,  105. 
"  Last  Supper,"  Titian's,  reference  to, 

168. 
Lathbury.  M.  A.,  quotation  from,  311. 
Lazarus,  references  to.  260,  273. 
Lebanon,  references  to,  33,  104. 
Lee.  Cieneral,  references  to,  327  f . ,  331. 
Lepanto,  Gulf  of,  reference  to,  241. 
Libby  Prison,  references  to,  93,  210,  328. 


46 


Topical  l7idex 


London,   Carlyle's  reference  to  people 

of,  176 
Longfellow,  quotation  from,  165. 
Lot,  reference  to,  32. 
Lotteries  as  means  of  building  churches, 

221  f 
Lowell.     James     Russell,     quotations 

from,  192  f.,  305  f 
Luther,  reference  to,  175 
Lying  :    reference  to,  215  ;  to  help    on 

good  cause   222  ;  as  a  duty  among 

Orientals,  226 

Magill,  Robert,  quotation  from,  66. 

Mann,  Horace,  reference  to,  157 

Mansfield,  Lord  Chief  Justice,  refer- 
ence to,  181. 

Martha  of  Bethany,  references  to,  257- 
278. 

Mary,  reference  to,  257-278. 

Massachusetts  Agricultural  College, 
reference  to,  147  f 

Melzi,  reference  to,  176. 

•'  Memoirs  of  Sheridan,"  reference  to, 
171. 

Memphis,  temple  at,  40. 

Meshach,  reference  to,  228. 

Mexico,  temple  at,  40. 

Michel  Angelo,  reference  to,  167. 

Mill.  J.  Stuart,  reference  to,  176. 

Milton,  quotation  from,  266. 

Minerva  Promachus.  reference  to,  242 

Montesquieu,  quotation  from,  i68. 

Moody,  Dwight  L.,  references  to,  216, 

235- 

Moore,  Tom  :  reference  to,  169  ;  quota- 
tion from,  171. 

Morea,  relerence  to,  241. 

Morris  Island,  reference  to,  43,  52. 

Moses,  references  to,  10  f.,  178,  244, 
286  f ,  315.  317  f. 

Mukhna,  Plain  of,  reference  to,  31. 

Nabloos,  reference  to,  28. 

Napoleon  :    references    to,   10,  99,  155, 

164,  i6g  f.,  174-176,  247,  310. 
National    Sunday-school    Convention, 

reference  to,  66. 
Nazareth,  reference  to,  75. 
Nebuchadnezzar,  reference  to,  32. 
Necho,  reference  to,  32. 
Nelson,  Admiral,  at  battle  of  the  Nile, 

323- 

Neptune,  temple  of,  reference  to,  242. 

Nero,  reference  to,  103. 

Neumeister,  quotation  from,  337  f. 

New  Berne,  North  Carolina,  reference 
to,  281  f.,  331,  333. 

New  England  :  prayer-meeting,  inci- 
dent of,  88;  reference  to,  246  f.; 
preacher's  thought  on  God's  pro- 
tection, 274  f. 


Nejv  Englander,  quotation  from,  162. 

New  Hampshire  boy,  incident  of.  44-47. 

New  Market  Heights,  reference  to,  331. 

New  Orleans,  reference  to.  331. 

New  York  :  stock  gamblers  of,  64  ;  in- 
cident of  lost  boy  in,  89  f.;  war  riots 
in,  207  ;  incident  of  blind  girl  in, 
226. 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac :  quotation  from, 
166  ;   reference  to,  172. 

Newton,  John,  quotations  from,  18,285. 

Newton's  '•  Chronology,"  reference  to, 
168. 

Niagara  Falls,  reference  to,  169. 

Nile,  references  to,  30,  284,  323. 

Nineveh,  temple  of,  40. 

Noah,  references  to,  102,  244. 

Norseland  navigators,  reference  to, 
246  f. 

North  Carolina  :  army  experiences  in, 
7  ;  reference  to,  207. 

North  Pole,  reference  to,  53. 

Northampton,  reference  to,  147. 

Northfield,  reference  to,  216. 

Northfield  Students'  Conference,  refer- 
ences to,  218,  239,  254. 

Nuffar,  temple  of,  40.  ^ 

Olives,  Mount  of,  reference  to,  259. 

Omar,  reference  to,  33. 

Orientals,  lying  to  enemy  a  duty  among, 

226. 
Owen,  Dr.,  quotation  from,  165. 

Pallas,  reference  to,  242. 

Parliament,  reference  to,  171. 

Parnassus,  reference  to,  244. 

Parthenon,  reference  to,  242. 

Parton,  James,  quotation  from,  165. 

Paul,  references  to,  57,  153  f.,  178,  i87f., 
220.  244,  251  f.,  270,  27b,  294,  316- 
318.  ^ 

Payson  Church,  Easthampton,  Massa- 
chusetts, reference  to,  216. 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  reference  to,  129. 

I'eloponnesus,  reference  to,  241  f. 

Penn,  William,  quotation  from,  104  f. 

Per.>epolis,  temple  at,  40. 

Peter,  references  to,  287  f. 

Peter  the  Hermit,  reference  to,  175. 

Petersburg,  reference  to,  331,  333. 

Phidias,  reference  to,  242. 

Philadelphia:  references  to,  27,  64; 
Bi-Centennial  of,  reference  to,  104; 
deathbed  incident  in,  317  f. 

Philip  V  of  Spain,  reference  to,  40. 

Philippi,  reference  to  jailer  of,  270. 

Philippines,  reference  to,  33. 

Philistines,  David's  bravery  before  the, 

175- 
"  Photo-sculpture,"  reference  to,  135 
Pitt,  William,  quotation  from,  171. 


Topical  Index 


347 


"  Plain  of  the  Cornfields,"  reference  to, 

31- 
Poppy  :  its  prolificness,  loo. 
Poseidon,  temple  of,  242. 
Prayer,  child's  thought  on,  273. 
Prentiss,  Mrs,   E.   P.,  quotation  from, 

86. 
Proctor,   A.   A.,  quotations  from,  312, 

321. 
Ptolemies,  reference  to,  32. 
*•  Punch,"  quotation  from,  180. 
Puritans,  reference  to,  247. 

QuiNCY,  Josiah :  reference  to,  249 ; 
quotation  from,  250. 

Quincy,  President,  of  Harvard,  refer- 
ence to,  249. 

Quincy,  Edmund,  reference  to,  249. 

Quincy,  Josiah  Phillips,  reference  to, 
249. 

Quincy,  General  Samuel  Miller,  refer- 
ence to,  249. 

Quotations  from  : 

Alexander,  Mrs.,  152. 

Arnold  of  Rugby,  169. 

Athanasius,  178. 

Augustine,  St.,  252. 

Baxter,  Richard,  304. 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  158,  176. 

Beethoven,  167. 

"  Billings,  Josh,"  102. 

Bonar,  Horatius,  42,  114,  324. 

Brougham.  Lord,  154. 

Browning,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Barrett, 
84  f. 

Buffon,  167. 

Bulwer's  "  Schiller."  166,  169. 

"  Burial  of  Moses."  152. 

Burke,  Edmund,  160,  171. 

Burns,  136. 

Burritt,  Elihu,  166  f. 

Bushnell,  Dr.  Horace,  271. 

Bushnell,  Louisa,  78. 

Buxton,  Sir  Fowell,  170. 

Campbell,  128. 

Cecil,  Richard,  104. 

Chatrian.  See  Erckmann- Cha- 
trian. 

Clark,  President,  of  Massachusetts 
Agricultural  College,  148. 

Clarke,  Adam,  171  f. 

Cowper,  W.,  224.  288. 

Dickens,  Charles,  167. 

Disraeli.  170. 

Dobell.  Sydney.  178. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  137,  179. 

"  Eugene  Aram,"  130. 

Faber,  F.  W.,  314. 

Foss,  President,  of  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity, 274  f. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  171. 


Fuller,  Thomas,  109. 

Goethe,  180. 

Gray,  Elinor,  96. 

Guest,  William,  160. 

Gurney,  John  Joseph,  153. 

Hamilton,  A.  E.,  311. 

Havergal.  Frances  Ridley,  95. 

Hawes,  Dr.  Joel.  159. 

Heber,  Bishop,  87. 

Herbert,  George,  139. 

Hill,  President,  of  Harvard,  157. 

Hood.  130. 

Jackson,  Thomas,  168. 

Larcom,  Lucy,  105. 

Lathbury,  M.  A.,  311. 

Longfellow,     Henry     Wadsworth, 

165. 
Lowell,  James  Russell,  192  f.,  305  f. 
Magill,  Robert,  66. 
Milton.  266. 
Montesquieu,  168. 
Moore.  Tom,  171. 
New  Englander,  162. 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  166. 
Newton.  John,  18,  285. 
Owen,  Dr.,  165. 
Parton,  James,  165. 
Penn,  William,  104  f. 
Pitt,  William,  171. 
Prentiss.  Mrs.  E.  P.,  86. 
Proctor.  A.  A.,  312,  321. 
"  Punch."  180. 

"  Record  of  Noble  Deeds."  161. 
Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  167. 
Rossetti,  Christine  G.,  286,  320. 
"Schiller,"  Bulwer's,  166,  169. 
Seelye,  Professor  L.  Clark,  147  f. 
Shakespeare,  308. 
Smiles,  Samuel,  160. 
Smith,  Sydney,  167. 
"Son  of  Heaven,"  Emperor,  250. 
Stone,  Mary  K.  A.,  252. 
Tennyson,  132. 
Titian,  168. 

Wadsworth,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles,  155  f. 
Webster,  Daniel,  169  f. 
Whipple,  E.  P.,  159. 
Woolsey,  Theodore,  161. 
Young,  Edward,  160. 

RahAB,  reference  to.  244. 

Railroad  men,  color-blindness  among, 

217  f. 
Rameses,  reference  to,  32. 
Ray.  the  botanist,  reference  to,  100. 
"  Record  of  Noble   Deeds,"  quotation 

from.  161. 
Red  Sea.  reference  to,  284,  315. 
"  Reputation,"  meaning  of  word,  138. 
Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  quotation  from, 

167. 
Rezin  of  Syria,  reference  to,  32. 


48 


Topical  Index 


Richmond  :  incident  of  soldier  at,  83  f.; 
references  to,  117, 120, 147,  281,  327  f, 

331 

Roanoke,  reference  to,  331 

Robinson,  President  E.  G..  reference 
to,  216. 

Roman  theaters,  reference  to,  303. 

Romans,  new-born  child  among,  191  f. 

Rome:  temple  at,  40;  reference  to, 
103 ;  moral  teachings  of  philoso- 
phers of,  190;  wisdom  of  classic 
philosophies  of,  200. 

Rossetti,  Christine  G.,  quotations  from, 
286.  320. 

Rum  as  "gift  of  God,"  227. 

Salaueen,  reference  to,  33. 

Salem,  Massachusetts,  reference  to,  8. 

Salisbury  prison,  reference  to,  210. 

Samaria,  references  to,  31,75. 

Samaritans,  references  to,  28,  31  f.,  34. 

Samson,  references  to,  244,  294. 

Samuel,  references  to,  11  i.,  244,  294. 

Sarah,  reference  to,  244. 

Saronic  Gulf,  reference  to,  242. 

Savannah,  reference  to,  331. 

St.  Augustine,  references  to  city  of,  52, 

74.  93.  333- 
St.  Helena,  reference  to,  333. 
"  Schiller,"  Bulwer's,  quotations  from, 

166,  169. 
Scotch  ship-builders,  reference  to,  227. 
Seabrook    Island,  references   to,   51  f., 

333- 
Seelye,    Dr.    Samuel    T.,    reference  to, 

147. 
Seelye,    Professor  L.   Clark,   quotation 

from,  147  f. 
Sennacherib,  reference  to,  32. 
"  Service-chevron,"  reference  to,  321  f. 
Sety,  reference  to,  32. 
Shadrach,  reference  to,  228. 
Shakespeare,  quotation  from,  308. 
Shalmanezer,  reference  to,  32. 
Sharp,  Granville,  manly  individualism 

of,  180  f. 
Shechem,  Valley    of,    reference    to,  30, 

Sheridan.  Richard  Brinsley,  reference 
to,  170  f. 

Shishak,  reference  to,  32. 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  reference  to,  35, 161. 

Silas,  reference  to,  270. 

Simon,  reference  to,  77. 

Sinai,  Mount  :  incident  in  climbing, 
307;  reference  to,  315. 

"Sir  Lancelot  of  the  Lake,"  reference 
to,  132. 

Slavery  :  work  for  abolition  of,  in  Eng- 
land and  America,  180  f.;  as  divine 
institution,  227. 

Smiles,  Samuel,  quotation  from,  160. 


Smith,  Sydney,  quotation  from.  167. 
Smith  College  for  Women,  reference  to, 

147 
Smithsonian  Institution,  exhibit  of  foot- 
gear in.  9. 
Soldier,  cowardice  of  brave.  289. 
Solomon,  references  to,  151,  155  f ,  174, 

246. 
I     "  Son  of  Heaven,"  Emperor,  quotation 

from.  250. 
South  Carolina,  war  incident  in,  312  f. 
Stewart.  A.  T.,  reference  to.  157. 
Stiles,  President,  as  barterer  of  slaves, 

221. 
Stone,    Mary    K.    A.,  quotation   fron^ 

252. 
Strong,  Rev.  Dr.  Nathan,  as  a  distiller 

221. 
Students'     Conference     at     Northfield 

references  to.  218,  235  f.,  254. 
Sunflower  :  its  prolificness,  100. 
Sychar,  reference  to,  31. 
Susa,  temple  at,  40. 

Telemachus,  St.  :  his  bravery  at  th 

Colosseum,  175 
Tennyson,  quotation  from,  132. 
Theater-going,  reference  to,  229. 
Thebes,  temple  of,  40. 
Thotmes.  reference  to.  32. 
Tiglath-pileser,  reference  to,  32. 
Timothy,  reference  to,  100. 
Tithe-giving,  Bible  teachings  on,  232. 
Titian,  quotation  from,  168. 
1'obacco  :    its  prolificness,  100  f. ;  refer 

ence  to  its  use,  229. 
Twenty-fourth     Massachusetts      Regi- 

inent,  reference  to,  328. 

Ukiah,  reference  to,  108. 

Venus,  temple  of,  reference  to,  242. 

Vicksburg,  reference  to,  331. 

Virginia  murderer,  incident  of,  111-113. 

Wadsworth,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles,  quota- 
tion from,  155  f. 
Wagner,  reference  to  fight  at,  84. 
Walker,  Hon.  Amasa,  quotation  from, 

161. 
Walnut  Street   Presbyterian  Church  of 

Philadelphia,  reference  to,  282. 
"  War  Memories  of  an  Army  Chaplain," 

reference  to,  3. 
Washington,  George,  reference  to,  251. 
Washington.  Mary,  reference  to,  251. 
Waterloo,  battle  of,  references  to,  155, 

310. 
Webster,     Daniel  :     quotations     from, 

169  f. ;   reference  to,  250. 
Webster,  Captain  Ezekiel,  reference  to, 

251. 


Topical  Index 


1 
o 


49 


Webster,  Noah,  reference  to,  248. 
Westminster  Abbey,  reference  to,  323. 
Wheat,  germinating  power  of,  104. 
Whipple",  E.  P.,  quotation  from,  159. 
White,  Ambrose,  reference  to,  27. 
VVilberforce's  work  in  freeing  England's 

slaves,  181. 
Wilkie,  David,  reference  to,  99. 
Williams  College,  reference  to,  148. 
Williamsburg,    Long   Island,   reference 

to,  28. 
Williston   Seminary,   reference   to,   144, 

216. 
Winckelried,  Arnold   de,   reference  to, 

174. 


Wine-drinking  among  modern  travelers, 

228. 
Woolsey,    Theodore,    quotation    from, 

161. 
World's  Student  Conference,  references 

to,  216,  239. 
Worry,  wickedness  of,  259-278. 

Yale   College  :    references    to  its  boat 

crew,  58,  148,  178,  221. 
Young,  Edward,  quotation  from,  162. 

ZoKOASTRiANisM,  teaching  of,  81  f. 
Zutphen,  reference  to,  35. 


SCRIPTURAL  INDEX 


GENESIS 

TEXT  PAGE 

I  :    II,   24 77 

3  :  12 177 

9  :  20,  21 102 

14  •    •   •       32 

EXODUS 

2:2 154 

23  :  2 178 

33  :  II 315 

LEVITICUS 
5:17 223 

NUMBERS 

6  :  26 331 

II  :  i4»  15 315 

12  :  3 286 

20  :  7-12 286 

DEUTERONOMY 

6:5. 153 

8:4 II 

29  :  29 97 

33  :  I II 

33  :  25  .    .  9,11  (twice), 

...     14,  16  f.,  21,  24 

34  :  7 154 

JOSHUA 

1:5 320 

1:8... 233 

1:9 21,  173 


I   bAWJ 

[yjiLL, 

2:9.  .  .  . 

....    12 

4:9.  .  .  . 

....  166 

9:2.  .  .  . 

....  154 

16  :  7    .    .   . 

....    97 

20  :  3    ... 

•    .    •      304 

2  SAMUEL 

TEXT  PAGE 

6  :  14 153 

12  :  9-13 108 

23  :  I 151 

I  KINGS 

2:2 151-182 

3  :  10 156 

18      287 

19      287 

19  :  4 316 

I  CHRONICLES 
29  :  2 153 

JOB 
6  :  8-10 315 

17  :  9 165 

19  :  25-27 181 

PSALMS 

2:8 82 

17  :  15 82 

19  :  8,  II 231 

19  :  12, 14 126 

25  :  4 233 

34  :  7 336 

34  :  10 338 

34  :  14 329 

34  :  19'  22 339 

37  :  37 331 

42  :  I,  2 39 

48  :  14 12 

55  :  22 276 

63  :  I 39 

72  :  16 101 

72  :  18 338 

84  :  2 22 

85  :  8 340 

116  :  15 308 

119  :  9 231 


TEXT  PAGE 

119   :  96 56,  233 

119  :  128-130 233 

139  :  10 173 

146  :  3 338 


PROVERBS 


4  :  7-13 

4  :  23 

5  :  22 

6  :  10 
6  :  23 


10 
II 
II 

12 
13 
13 

14 
14 
16 
20 
20 
21 
22 
22 
23 
23 
23 
28 


159 

160 

60 

163 

231 

4 1*^7 

18 108 

31 57 

14 108 

4 167 

6 60 

10 96 

12 233 

22 156 

I 39 

^9 154 

16 156 

I 62,  160 

8 108 

7 159 

29 59,  154 

30 59 

19 173 


ECCLESIASTES 

2  :  26 

7  :  28 

9  :  10 

9  :  16 

10  :  20 

11  :  I 


ISAIAH 


200 
176 

153 
156 
136 

lOI 


5  :  20,  21 
8  :  20 
26  :  I,  2 


225 

234 
332 


351 


352 


Scriptural  Index 


TEXT  PAGE 

26  :  3     ....  277,  329-340 

29  :  8 41 

35  :  5,  6,  10 205 

40  :  8 19 

40  :  29 320 

41  :  10 20 

43  •■  2 20 

46  :  4 320 

46  :  6 38 

55  :  I 47 

57  :  20  .    .    .    .59,  195,  335 

57  :  21   •    .    .    .  59>  195.  334 
66  :  13 320 

JEREMIAH 

2  :  13 40 

29  :  13 86 

EZEKIEL 
21  :  27 128 

DANIEL 
1:4 228 


MARK 

TEXT  PAGE 

I  :  32-34 76 

^  :  35 77 

^  :  37 75 

4  :  20 106 

4  •■  28 98 

9  :  2-13 287 

10  :  21 269 

M  :  3»  4.  6-9    .       .       .  267 
14  :  31,66-71 287 


LUKE 


2  :  9-14 

9  :  28-36  .    . 


332 
.  287 


HOSEA 


4  :  II 
8:  7. 


39 
103 


10 
II 


38-42 259-278 

4 291 


II  :  34 


218,  219 


II 
12 

12  :  2,  3 
12  :  48  . 
18 
21 


35 217-236 

I,  2     ....       121-140 

63 
223 

338 


19 
19 


267 


JOHN 


MALACHI 
3:6 320 


4  : 

4  : 

5  : 

5  : 

6  : 
6  : 

6  : 

7  : 
9  : 
9  : 
9  : 
10 
10 
II 
12 
13 
13 
15 
16 

17 

18 

19 
22 

24 
26 

28 


MATTHEW 
I 281,  283-324 


2-11 


4 311 

6 •87 

13 291 

23 219 

31-33 276 

16.  17 97 

5 274 

29 173 

36,  37 192 

:  24,  25 288 

=  42 35 

:  28 276 

:  35 129,  160 

:  28 305 

:  30 108 

:  " 165 

:  9»  10 277 

:  1-13 287 

•2-5 195 

:  21 269 

■  3,8,  39 153 

139 

287 

20 277 


I 

2 

3 

3  : 

4 

5  : 

5  : 

5  : 

8  : 

8  : 

10 

II 

II 

II 

13 

13 

13 

13 

14 

14 

15 

16 

17 
18 
18 


9  •    • 
24,  25 
18    . 

36    . 


....  230 

96 

270 

202 

13,  14 30-47 

24 202 

30 294 

39 230 

3i»  32 194 

12 230 

:  10 206 

:  I,  2 267 

:  21,  28 265 

:  25,  26 201 

:  3 271 

■13 197 

:  24-27 18 

:  27 284 

:  1-3 306 

:  27 199'  332 

:  5 274 

:  2 220 

•17 230 

:  4-8 177 

:  10 287 


ROMANS 

TEXT  PAGE 

6  :  23 201,  268 

7-7 220 

7  :  23 163.  334 

<5  :  16,  17 ic)7 

8  :  22 201 

8  :  26 81 

8  :  35-37  319 

8  :  38,  39 303-324 

12  :  19 232 

13  :  14 162 

14  :  4 234 

14  :  5 178,  234 

14  •  21 233 

M  :  23 173 

15  :  I 233 

1  CORINTHIANS 

3  :  17 59 

6  :  19,  20 154 

9:7 108 

9  :  25 57 

9  :  27 316 

10  :  12 284 

10  :  13  .  .  21,  164,  292,319 

11  :  3 187-211 

II  :  13 162 

15  :  26 305 

15  :  37 loi 

2  CORINTHIANS 

I  :  3.4 3" 

4  :  8,9 41 

5  :  10 no,  139 

6  :  9,  10 41 

10  :  12 230 

II  :  26,  27 316 

12  :  9    ....  20,  294,  319 
12  :  10 173,  294 


6 
33 


ACTS 

4  :  12 200,  269 

6  :  15 205 

13  :  36 181 

16  :  31 270 

26  :  9 220 


GALATIANS 

2  :  20 203 

4:7 197 

5  :  17 163 

5  :  22,  23 113 

6:7 95.  "4.  223 


6  :  8 


EPHESIANS 


"3 


4  : 13. 15 
6  :  10    . 
6  :  13 
6  :  14-16 


.      .      .    I»2 

•    •    •  173 
266,  323 

•    •  323 


PHILIPPIANS 

21 202,  317 

23 308,  316 

7 335 

11  .   278 

12 ig8,  278 

13 21,  278,  294 


Scripttiral  Index 


353 


I  PETER 

TEXT  PAGE 

1  :  24,25 19 

COLOSSIANS 

I  :  17 271 

I  :  19 196 

1  :  24 252 

2:9 79 

2  :  10 83,  203 

3  :  23 153 

I  TIMOTHY 
1:5 100 

2:5 177 

4:8 162 

6:6 61 


2  TIMOTHY 

TEXT  PAGE 

1  :  10 82 

2:1 173 

3  :  15 100 

HEBREWS 
1:1,2 190 

2  :  10 173 

2  :  18 290,  297 

4  :  13 96 

4  :  15.  16 290 

II  :  32-34 294 

11  :  40 241-254 

12  :  17 108 


TEXT  PAGE 

13  •■  8 II,  67 

13  :  20,  21 340 

JAMES 

1:2 291 

3  :  12 97 

I  JOHN 

2  :  14 153 

REVELATION 

3  :  20 211 

13  :  10 267 

14  :  13 309 

22  :  17 47 


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